As I've been predicting, CAFTA passed the House by a narrow margin, 217-215. But I can assure you that the margin was not as narrow as it seemed. The Republicans brought it up for a vote because they knew there were at least a half a dozen Republicans who ended up voting no for political reasons, who would have voted yes if there vote were needed. This is not new. It's done all the time. So, as with nearly all "trade" legislation, passage was inevitable.
I put "trade" in quotes because this legislation, as with other so-called "free trade" agreements, has little to do with trade and everything to do with the race to the bottom for cheap labor and maximizing corporate profits and capital returns.
What wasn't inevitable was 15 Democrats voting for it. While getting nearly 95% of the Dems to vote against it was admirable, failure to get 98% cost the Dems an issue. The Republicans can say that less a percentage of their caucus voted for it than the percentage of Dems voted against it. And who do we have to thank for that? Well, certain people like Dicks and Moran were expected to vote for it. Meeks and Towns have large Dominican communities in their districts. Texas Hispanics voted the politically correct way. Matheson, Moore and Bean are in Republican-leaning districts, although since over two dozen Republicans voted against it, I don't see why that matters. Tanner, Skelton, Cooper, Jefferson and Snyder have no excuses, and should be the ones to take the most heat. I'd check their back accounts
Had those 5 voted the other way, things might have been different. That they didn't shows the pathetic state of the Democratic party. It was one thing to lose votes when were in the majority. It's another to do so in the minority. There is no party discipline. This vote should have been whipped, with those who bucked the party denied funding and choice assignments. Failing to do so cost the Democrats an issue that they could have used with great effectiveness in the '06 election. Which means they will likely stay in the minority.
Maybe what needs to happen is for someone to put the Democratic party out of its misery, and replace it with one that will stand united on core issues. Failing that, maybe it's time to run third party candidates against those who fail to vote for the party on those core issues.