To vote or not to vote. That is the question.

All right, that's not exactly how Hamlet put it. But on the morning of June 13, Kevin Martin was doing his own version of the soliloquy, playing the deeply conflicted Prince of Denmark at the Federal Communications Commission. While the audience wasn't entirely enraptured, it was certainly attentive. The issue was the extension of the ten-year-old program access rules, and it should have been a routine roll call of the four commissioners. An extremely reliable cable reporter had already reliably reported that the majority would vote for those rules, which have helped make satellite TV the cable industry's competitor.

The vote began with an unusually strong dissent from Kathleen Abernathy, a Republican who had not broken ranks with Chairman Michael Powell at all in her first year. Next came Democrat Michael Copps, who supported the extension because he felt the DBS industry still needed this protection.

And then, almost as an afterthought, came Kevin Martin, the third Republican, the sure thing. But from the moment Martin opened his mouth, nothing was sure but the cold stare on Powell's face. To support or not support the rules ? for several tense minutes, Martin outlined how he agonized over the decision, listing all the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune weighing against the rules' retention. Congress had ordered them terminated; the Federal Appeals Court was demanding that the FCC be more specific when it decided a rule was ?necessary.? The FCC order wasn't following a high enough standard. ?Specific evidence is needed to justify a conclusion that without the prohibition, competition and diversity in the distribution of video programming could not be preserved and protected,? he said. By that time observers and the press were wondering whether Martin had gone south on Powell and produced an embarrassing 2-2 deadlock.

Wrapping up, Martin pronounced the matter ?a very close call? and then anticlimactically voted for it. With that five-minute drum roll, Martin had definitely taken center stage away from the chairman.

Observers leaving the room huddled outside the chamber to ask ?What is going on here?? As Shakespeare would have said, ?Now that is the question.?

These days there's a bit of friction up on the eighth floor of the Portals, the FCC's headquarters. The buzz is that Kevin Martin, the youngest and last commissioner appointed last year, is not filling the role of good GOP soldier on Lieutenant Powell's squad, and no one knows why.

Martin's surprising actions range from outright dissents to lengthy statements exquisitely detailing his disagreements with Powell to a new and weird alliance with the only Democrat on the commission. Taken together, they have served up a feast of factionalism to the media and the denizens of the Portals.

What's driving Martin? There is no shortage of speculation ? he's crazy; he wants to stake out his own turf; he has ideological differences with Powell; he's leaning liberal; he's defending the one, true Republican telecom policy (deregulation); he's been taken in by Copps, playing the role of Tonto to Copps's Lone Ranger; and, finally, he's ambitious and needs to stand out in this crowd if he's going to go other places.

What to make of that speculation? Crazy? Hey, in the end, everyone on that eighth floor eventually needs psychiatric counseling. Next, Martin can't be both a closet socialist and the one, true Republican up there. As for ideological differences, that would imply a certain consistency to his recent actions, which simply does not exist.

?I'm not staking out my territory,? Martin said in an interview. ?In every area [Powell and I] agree the vast majority of the time. Individual members of the commission may diverge on policy issues from time to time, but I think we all get along very well?but there's going to be times when we differ on policy.?

Powell himself is downplaying any dissension with a fellow Republican. ?Serious debate is how we reach our very best decisions at the commission,? he said recently. ?I not only welcome such debate, I encourage it.?

Unfortunately, there hasn't been much debate between Martin and Powell on issues, just reaction to style and to the overwhelming power of the chairmanship of the FCC. This leads to the final suspicion, fueled, it should be noted, by supporters of Martin affiliated with the White House. It goes like this: This is part of a strategy to secure his future. Is Martin ambitious? Well, if Cassius had a lean and hungry look, there are moments when Martin seems downright anorexic.

?Martin's being very strategic right now,? said an industry lobbyist who once worked on the eighth floor but who would not speak for attribution. ?He's not dissenting in ways the right wing can complain about. He is acting independently, but being careful not to be seen as an ideological threat to the GOP agenda.?

Meanwhile, the division inside the FCC may not be supersized yet, but it has given the most loquacious lobbyists and lawyers laryngitis. Some are concerned that if they say something innocuous about Martin's skill as a legal mind ? he is one smart cookie ? they also must proffer a pleasantry about Powell, whom they also admire. It's easier to hide, and that's what most of the usual suspects did. The rift is even beginning to appear on the radar screen in some offices in the White House. Naturally, no one there would comment on the record, but it's rumored that President Bush said he would rather undergo a colonoscopy than address this little tempest.

So far Martin's breaks with Powell and other acts haven't intruded on major issues. But there are several critical matters on the horizon, one of which goes to the heart of how over-the-air broadcasting gets to the public. There's a fifth commissioner in the wings, a Democrat, and Martin could become the Swing Vote ? a role that some telecom firms who have visited him say he's ready to play.

It would be nice, the role of shadow chairman. But at some point, playing that part could provoke Powell to call in reinforcements from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Is Martin's strategy the smart way to get ahead in W. Bush's administration? Or is he risking his career for 15 minutes of Washington-style fame?

To those outside the FCC, it was April 10 when the first fault line appeared between Powell and Martin. It came in the form of a joint statement Martin had issued with Michael Copps, saying that the FCC hadn't been hard enough on EchoStar and its two-dish deal for delivering local programming to consumers. It was the oddity of the Martin-Copps combo that made reporters jaws drop. Square peg, round hole, what's wrong with this picture? Martin flacking on behalf of the consumer seemed particularly strange. For one thing, the FCC already had a ?consumer commissioner?: Kathleen Abernathy. For another, the FCC statement telling EchoStar to stop the two-dish practice was, by most accounts, pretty tough anyway.

What seemed unusual to outsiders, however, had already become the norm inside the FCC, say many staffers there. Depending on who is talking, either Martin has been off the reservation from day one, or, in a different version of the same idea, he has shown that there are areas in which he feels the chairman needs to communicate more and needs to solicit more input from the rest of the commission.

With another Republican, it might not have seemed unusual. But Martin had already worked at the FCC when Powell was a commissioner, as a staffer for the most antiregulatory regulator, Harold Furchtgott-Roth. It was expected, when Martin was appointed, that he would be a shorter, more conciliatory version of HFR and toe the line.

Instead, Martin's meanderings have caught the rest of the eighth floor off guard. They've left Powell shaking his head, Copps smiling on the sidelines, and put Abernathy in the role of George Mitchell doing shuttle diplomacy up and down the halls.

Martin nearly brought the FCC to a standstill on program access. His seeming indecision in public was nothing compared to what had occurred in private just 24 hours before. That's when his office informed the chairman that he was changing his vote to dissent along with Abernathy. Such a flip-flop so close to a final vote is unheard of at the FCC. It stunned the chairman's staff, who scrambled to get Martin back on board. Abernathy was so distressed, says an FCC staffer, that she told Powell she would craft some compromise to keep a deadlock from happening, in the name of ?good government.? Around 8 p.m. the night before the meeting, Martin finally confirmed that he would, after all, vote for the rules' extension.

On the auction of the spectrum for channels 52 through 59, Powell decided to push ahead with the bidding, despite pressure from some in the administration. Commerce Secretary Don Evans had already indicated that he preferred a delay; and that was seen as the White House policy. Billy Tauzin (R-La.), chairman of the House Commerce Committee, had suggested to the White House that he would deliver Powell and a delay as well. But Powell voted to get the auction going. Martin dissented and was portrayed as representing the Bush preference, the latter portrayal attributed to a White House staffer. His former boss Roth says, ?There are few people in Washington with a greater claim to being a loyal soldier for President Bush than Kevin. He's always been there for President Bush at the commission.?

On the matter of allowing newer DBS companies to share the satellite spectrum, Martin dissented in a 17-page statement with 97 careful footnotes. Furthermore, in his statement, he mentioned ?the original version of the item,? code for an earlier draft that wasn't accepted. Martin says he needed to reference that draft to contextualize to his remarks. But it's not considered appropriate to disclose the unofficial version of an FCC decision, and sources say Martin was informed of this before he made his move.

Martin says his dissent had to do with ?substantial concerns that there might be interference? for some DBS subscribers caused by the way the spectrum would be allocated. ?You can't stop all interference,? says the director of one of the new satellite companies. ?Martin's very idealistic here.? Asked about this and his EchoStar statement, Martin said he had ?no problem being seen as a consumer commissioner? and added that it's incumbent on the commissioners and Republicans to consider the impact on ?consumers, not just corporations.?

In these issues, there's one picture of Martin carrying water for industry (52-59 channel auction to wireless companies, who wanted a delay) and then another pushing the more pro-consumer stance; they're seemingly incongruous. ?I think [Powell] would respect Kevin's behavior more if he stuck with one consistent position,? says a staffer.

Still, there's much about Martin that Powell and most people like. He's funny and self-deprecating. He humorously referenced another publication's comparison of him to Harry Potter (with his round eyeglasses, he looks about 15). ?I respect Kevin's intellect,? says Powell, ?and I am confident we can work together cooperatively in service to the public.? Note the absence of the phrase ?continue to work? here. Perhaps that has something to do with the latest dustup.

A few weeks ago Powell announced the creation of a Spectrum Task Force, a study group. Within hours Martin and Copps issued another joint statement, complaining that the matter should be handled by the commissioners, not the staff, and that it had not been vetted with the other commissioners first.

?It's just a **&&!!!&&*** task force,? fumed a veteran staffer. ?What is he doing? And with Copps!? Indeed, staffers on the eighth floor say that Abernathy in her role as peacemaker has suggested that Martin stop colluding with Copps. But who else can Martin collude with, and who stands to gain if Martin teams up with Copps? The Democrats.

That's where the next issue has the potential to become a serious problem. There are two statements making the rounds with lobbyists for broadcasters and the networks involving a petition filed by the Network Affiliated Stations Alliance in March 2001. That petition asks the FCC to look into alleged bullying by networks over programming preemption. The statements are alike, but different. ?Thank God for Kevin Martin ? if it weren't for him, the NASA petition would be dead at the commission,? goes the first. ?Damn that Kevin Martin: If it weren't for him that petition would be dead at the FCC,? goes the second.

Asked about those statements, Martin laughed. ?The issues in that petition are quite serious?. I don't favor ?economic? preemption by the networks, but it's important for affiliates to be able to preempt network shows for local programs.?

He adds, ?I'm not trying to be the intermediary between the affiliates and the networks.?

Tell that to Rupert Murdoch.

Picture, if you will, a warm day in May when Mogul Murdoch came to Martin's office and got an upbeat pep talk on the pressing issue of Fox relations with its broadcast affiliates. ?Why can't you guys just get along?? is how Martin characterized his advice to the CEO of News Corp. Martin says he explained to Murdoch and other network heads that if Fox and the networks give in on program preemption issues with their affiliates, the affiliates in turn might stop objecting to increases in the 35% network ownership cap.

It would be interesting to get inside Murdoch's head, as the original autocrat of the breakfast table listened to the counsel of a Harry Potter lookalike. Whatever Murdoch thought, it was probably unprintable.

The NASA issue was sent around the commissioners offices for comment two weeks ago. It's perceived in the chairman's office as an attempt by the affiliates to have the FCC intervene in industry contract negotiations, a no-no. Right now there seems to be a two-two split. Copps is said to have wanted the matter pushed forward for a year, and Martin indicated that he thinks the FCC should not dismiss the petition.

Now, with only a tie vote, the petition dies. However, if Martin or Copps or both withhold their vote until the fifth commissioner, Democrat Jonathan Adelstein, arrives later this year, there could be three votes to proceed with an FCC ruling urging the nets to mend their evil ways or an investigation of network practices. This is what lawyers involved with the NASA petition hope will happen. And then it's open warfare: The nets get a black eye in the FCC record at a time when they are pushing to raise their ownership limits on the grounds that they are good corporate citizens and can be trusted to do the right thing.

No wonder that when NASA supporters mention Martin's name, they smile.

So what's Powell to do? Ride it out? Pray for Martin to run for office in his native North Carolina? Help Martin get a higher profile job at another agency? Or play the best card he has: his White House ties.

The White House is a wild card here, and one that Martin can play, too. Unlike most junior commissioners, Martin has strong ties there ? at least on the lower levels. His wife works for the vice president. Dick and Lynne Cheney are reported by sources inside the White House to like Kevin and Catherine socially. And he certainly earned his medals with the Bush campaign in 2000 as the deputy general counsel, digging into the rubble in the Florida aftermath and holding out to the end. Unlike Powell, who tends to go home to his family at night, Kevin Martin and his spouse pop up frequently at political events and turn up at all the right dinner parties at which telecom and Republican bigwigs are on hand.

Powell was one of Bush's very first appointments. But the closeness between the White House and Michael Powell reflects in part its closeness at any point with Colin Powell, the secretary of state, and Michael's father. There are minions in the White House who don't consider either Powell a true believer, a blood oath Republican ? the Powells weren't a big part of the campaign, they didn't camp out in cramped motels in Tallahassee, and they don't pray facing the West Wing each morning. That may indeed be part of the background noise inside the White House at the staffer level.

But, says a former White House official who deals with the telecom industry and the FCC, the Powell ties to the White House are at higher levels than Martin's. ?If Michael Powell picks up the phone to ask the president to kick Martin back into line, do you think for a moment the president won't do that?? he asks. ?This president hates two things: leaks and disloyalty. Powell needs three votes for his agenda, and Martin has to be there.?

If you ask Martin, he might tell you he's already there and it's up to the chairman to join him.

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