It is such roller coaster ride with these Republicans lately. This one was dangerously close, 5 more parted company with their base:
The Senate gridlocked on the Iraq war in a sharply worded showdown on Saturday as Republicans foiled a Democratic attempt to rebuke President Bush over his deployment of 21,500 additional combat troops.
The vote was 56-34. That was six short of the 60 needed to advance the measure, which is identical to a nonbinding resolution that Democrats pushed through the House on Friday.
BTW, this one is for doug (the commenter, not my husband):
Republicans blasted him [Reid] and the Democratic leadership for refusing to allow a vote on an alternative that ruled out any reduction in money for troops in the field.
“A vote in support of the troops that is silent on the question of funds is an attempt to have it both ways,” said Sen. Mitch McConnell (news, bio, voting record) of Kentucky, the GOP leader. “So we are asking for an honest and open debate.”
That is the Judd amendment, doug. See, they didn’t include it in the debate.