The Italian Bill Clinton; Moderate and pragmatic, Walter Veltroni just might be the man who can finally turn Italy around.

Byline: Barbie Nadeau

In six years as mayor of Rome, Walter Veltroni has calmed a notoriously fractious city built upon a 2,500-year-old infrastructure and centuries of ineffective management. He kept the budget in line, increased tourism and, after nearly a decade of stagnation, revved up the local economy, which has grown 6.1 percent since he took office, compared with 1.4 percent nationally. The mayor even brought back the kind of glitterati Rome has not seen since the days of La Dolce Vita in the 1950s, staging a 45th-anniversary party for the designer Valentino that actress Sarah Jessica Parker dubbed "the most glamorous fashion show of all time."

Now Veltroni, 52, hopes to bring his touch to the prime minister's office. In late June, he called for an end to the "angry conflicts and poison" of Italian politics, announcing to raucous applause his candidacy to lead the center-left's new Democratic Party, a fusion of the two largest parties in the ruling coalition government. The party primary is in October, and with the administration of Romano Prodi tottering, a national election could be just months away. If it were held today, the front runner would be Veltroni, who has been called an Italian Bill Clinton and the Tony Blair of the Mediterranean. The rise of this committed centrist, who is largely pro-business and relatively pro-American, represents another step in the march of moderate politicians that has brought Angela Merkel to power in Germany, and Nicolas Sarkozy to the Elysee Palace in France.

Allies and adversaries alike say Veltroni has embraced a moderate pragmatism that rises above the squabbling endemic in Italian politics. For example, he is a staunch supporter of gay rights and, as mayor, allowed a gay-rights parade to proceed in Rome against the Vatican's wishes. Yet he retains a strong relationship with the church, scoring points for the management of Pope John Paul II's funeral. He followed a similar path in his relations with the United States, advocating the use of the piazza in front of city hall to hold vigils for Italian soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Like the rest of the Italian left, he also supported the withdrawal of Italian troops from Iraq, and he en-couraged an antiwar demonstration timed for U.S. President George W. Bush's visit with Prodi. Yet he stopped short of participating himself. By contrast, opposition ...