Well, let's see, so what did the Democrats' accomplish yesterday?
Well, Republicans defeated their bill seeking an early withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
Turns out that Harry Reid wasn't even there for most of the snoozefest--he slept through much of it.
Reid's "strategy" gave Senator John McCain the opportunity to give what was at times a brilliant speech, defending the need to stay in Iraq, on the Senate floor---you can find the text of it here.
And overall, Reid's overall strategy was eviscerated by the wily Republican from Kentucky, Mitch McConnell---Ed Morrissey explains how: Here's what Reid wanted. He knew that he didn't have enough votes for a quorum; he only has 49 Democrats available, with Tim Johnson's disability. Reid counted on Republicans forcing an end to the session by having a single member present to challenge for a quorum. No votes could take place without one, including the instruction motion to the Sergeant-at-Arms to arrest recalcitrant members and drag them back to the chamber. That would have allowed Reid and the Democrats to accuse Republicans of dodging the debate, calling them cowards to take the spotlight off of their insistence on retreat.
Many expected the Republicans to do just that, but it turns out that Mitch McConnell is a little smarter than Harry Reid. Instead of denying Reid a quorum, the Republicans showed up for the debate, perhaps charged up by John McCain's earlier speech on the floor. Once Reid figured out that the Republicans would not give him the satisfaction of walking out the door, he caved. In fact, Reid didn't even bother to attend his own No Snooze Until We Lose party after the first instruction motion, choosing to hit the sack instead while Republicans took the podium all night long.
