re: #162 garhighway

That is like saying there is no such thing as a moderate Democrat in Congress. Like someone said about one of my earlier posts, it suggests that the Republicans lack free will, which is not the case.

It is a reality of congressional politics that on occasion, the Republicans , like the Democrats, are able to secure party discipline on a particular vote. There are myriad reasons why each Senator votes the way he or she does, and they do not all necessarily coincide. Health care reform and stimulus passed because on those issues there were enough (and it does not take many) Repubs who did not view their interests as coinciding with party discipline.

As for DADT repeal, here is what AP reported:

“Initially, advocates had thought that Democrats might win the 60 votes needed to overcome GOP objections and advance the bill. Sen. Susan Collins, a moderate Maine Republican, was seen as a crucial vote because she supports overturning the ban.

But Collins ultimately sided with her GOP colleagues in arguing that the bill shouldn’t advance because Republicans weren’t given sufficient chance to offer amendments to the wide-ranging policy bill.”

Seems to me there are “moderate Republicans” who might break party ranks if the issue was presented on a straight “up or down” vote. Now, if only the Dems could enforce their own party discipline on the issue, seems to me DADT would be history, as it should be.

But, to this observer, at least, that was not the point of today’s exercise.