Republican opposition to New START is collapsing. One Senate source just told me the vote for ratification could go as high as 75. Another said, “I don’t know if it will get that high, but it’s starting to tick up there.” As the sense builds that ratification is inevitable, Republicans are lining up to get on the “right side.” Lamar Alexander’s support, noted below, is a crucial sign of which way the wind is blowing, although he’ll probably be the only member of the Republican leadership to vote for it. At least Jon Kyl was able to get more money for modernization and that letter from President Obama making assurances on missile defense. Otherwise, this is a dismaying rout.
Does anyone have the sense that this, and the DADT repeal, was quid pro quo for the tax compromise? Could the whole episode be political theater?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThat is what Republican senators do, Rich. Collapse. It is an art form with them.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"this is a dismaying rout."
That about covers it.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI have no respect for the GOP, I have not been able to get through on the phones to anyone all day. This is a view to 2011, a few known RINOs will side with POTUS and then many will cave to position for 2012...
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIf this was a Kabuki theater tradeoff, the Republicans are making a huge strategic error.
The Tea Party has energized the conservative movement, and it's only a good thing that Congressional Republicans have shown responsiveness to pressure for fiscal sanity.
But, the party elite needs to be mindful of the other two legs of the stool. The cave-in on DADT (which just may be the fig leaf Justice Kennedy desperately needs to find an 'evolving consensus and overrule traditional marriage), and the rout on START, are worrisome indicators that social- and neo-conservative concerns will be ignored.
Good luck winning elections if those two groups become disaffected and sit the voting out.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseCaving on an unneeded treaty...put together by the folks who were wrong in the Cold War about treaties and are wrong now. What's the point in voting for Republicans? Are they worried that it will hurt their electoral chances? I'm not sure I follow that political logic. Same thing with the tax compromise...why not get in front of the Democrats and hammer them for trying to raise taxes...instead you let them flank you. GOP Senators - virtually all are morons or simply liars about their political beliefs.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI am beginning to think that everything that happens on Capitol Hill, at least on the Senate side, is political theater. Even the 'conservatives' seem fake.
Perhaps Senator DeMint (and Rand Paul, when he arrives) will at least keep the sense of insincerity from being unanimous.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAfter winning big in November, the GOP is now doing what it loves best: cave in to the Democrat/media complex. But it could be worse. If the GOP had won control of the Senate, the vote might have been even more lopsided.
A third party, please. Now. Right now.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseEven the 'conservatives' seem fake.
They are.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWow! What a Christmas Present. It is almost like when I was in college and didn't have a clue on a final exam just before Christmas vacation and started filling in circles so I could get out of town.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThanks for politicizing our national security both on START and DADT.
Merry Christmas you self serving hacks.
I would say that the President and his party had a pretty good run of things during this Lame Duck. This does not bode well for conservatives with high expectations for the 112th. The GOP Senate is still the same GOP Senate. Now we know where the fault lines lie. And I must say, they are quite large and still growing. Add the Tennesse Twins to the Maine Twins, to the group of exisitng RINOS (Lugar, Graham, Brown, and Murkowski). And the RINO watch now includes Kirk and Burr. That's 10 Senators who can, if enough pressure be applied, be rolled by the opposition. I do not envy McConnell in the least.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseHow many of these Senators are up for re-election in '12?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIt seems theat some of the current Republicans in office have forgotten the lesson they should have learned this last election, or they believe they are so elite they will not be fired.
It is a basic fact that unless we are secure our freedom is in jeopardy. Hopefully this will not be rushed into a vote and the new group of Republicans will vote it down.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe GOP set itself up for this. The intense opposition never made much sense to me. Its been clear there were Republican Senators willing to vote for this thing from the start.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe Russians have said they think missile defense is covered by the treaty. We seem to disagree. My understanding is the Russians have threatened to withdraw if we move forward with any missile defense. So Republicans should push to continue developing defense systems and allow the Russians to make good on the threat - which would force a renegotiation anyway, no?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThere has to be some deal. Why would any GOP Senator vote for this treaty? Why would any go for the tax compromise? I suppose they think they struck a great deal with the tax compromise...and they did that to get the omnibus killed. Poor political thinking (which is par for the course...know plenty of people from my state who went to DC...a hugely unimpressive bunch...they've all gotten liberal since moving there).
It's as if they aren't playing to win the game but instead are simply playing the role of opposition to the progressives. If you believe in conservative principles then how can you not play to win in enacting them? Either they don't believe in them or they're not that intelligent. I suspect that many of the Southern GOP'ers don't have anything but a vague conservatism about them. If the political power structure in their states swung back to Democrat...they'd swing over there...they're simply politicians.
I hope that the Tea Party, et al, goes after thsee guys for this lame duck session. Instead of actively working to circumvent the agenda they've worked to help Obama salvage it.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSpool, on this, I think I have to agree.
It appears the die is cast, and that we have been witnessing a show. Oh well, there will be another election, and maybe the last time, they just didn't hear us.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThis rewards Obama's bad behavior in voiding previous protections before his replacement treaty is known to be acceptable. It is one thing to withdraw from a treaty when it is deemed preferable to have no treaty. But when the aim is to update or modify a treaty, it is irresponsible to void the existing treaty before the new one is in place. Such an act is something done by a 'leader' with no sense of his nation's interests. The kind of 'leader' who bows to provincial Chinese mayors.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseConservatives keep talking about how people haven't gotten the message about the election. Maybe the election wasn't about foreign policy. Did you ever think about that?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseBlackhawks - that's why the argument seemed to be heavily process based - attempting to delay it until January on the grounds of insufficient time to properly debate and/or the inability to get votes on certain amendments GOP Senators wanted to see made. Kyl knew he probably would lose a straight up or down, so he was hoping to convince some lukewarm supporters of the treaty to oppose it on process and hold it over until January (at which point he probably felt he would have the votes to defeat it straight up). However, unlike McConnell on the omnibus, Kyl wasn't able to get those leaners to join his side.
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