In the last hour, a deal has been struck in order to provide for a special election this year in order to replace the late Democratic Senator Robert Byrd. Voting on the compromise bill occurred within the last hour, with a nearly unanimous vote in the House and a unanimous 29-0 vote in the Senate.
What is most curious about the deal is that the Republicans seem to have gotten everything they could have ever wanted in the bargain, despite a Democratic Governor and an overwhelmingly Democratic legislature:
Under the draft agreement lawmakers were shown at about 5 p.m., voters would go to the polls for an Aug. 28 for a primary to choose party nominees and then again Nov. 2 for a general election. Candidates who have already filed for an office would be allowed to run in the special Senate election.
That last provision could only exist for one purpose and one purpose alone: to aid the only viable Republican challenger, 2nd district Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito.
So, to recap: Democrats were originally going to wait until 2012 to have the election to replace Byrd. The Democrats reversed that position, in part because of pressure from Republicans over the long lag time between the vacancy and the election.
Now, the Democrats have not only given the Republicans an election at the time at which they desired, they have also hand-delivered the Republicans a gift which will allow the only Republican with a snowballs chance in Hades of being able to run, while simultaneously giving her the lifeboat of a guaranteed House victory if the Senate campaign does not end to her liking.
In other words, the Democrats struck a deal to exponentially increase the chances of their most formidable challenger getting into the race.
Brilliant.
(hat tip: James L. at Swing State Project)