I choose to see the bright side of every GOP defeat. Every such story on the news wears away at Bush's aura. Good.
WASHINGTON, March 2 -- The Senate approved a renewal of the ban on assault weapons today in a close vote that was steeped in presidential politics.
In the first of a series of votes on gun issues, the Senate, by a margin of 52 to 47, approved an extension of the 10-year-old ban on military-style assault weapons, handing a defeat to Republican opponents and gun rights groups that had sought to defeat the measure despite its broad support among law enforcement agencies.
Following the vote on the assault weapons ban, the Senate voted 53-46 to close what is known as the "gun-show loophole" and require people who buys firearms from private dealers at such shows to undergo background checks. The vote on that amendment was also a setback for the authors of the underlying measure, who had hoped to keep such amendments off the bill.
Used to be every close vote went to Bush, but no more. Let it be true in November as well.
Ten Republicans joined 41 Democrats and an independent in backing the ban; 41 Republicans and 6 Democrats opposed extending the ban another decade.
Senators on both sides of the fight had said they expected a close vote on whether to maintain the ban, which is scheduled to expire in September.
Anticipating a close vote, Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York and a backer of the ban, wrote to Vice President Dick Cheney to urge him to support the ban should he be called on to break a tie.