Maybe Harry Reid knows how to play this game after all.
Last week, the Senate Democratic leader confused the political world by deciding to put two different versions of a Senate surveillance overhaul up for a floor vote, with the base text being the version despised by civil libertarians. The Solomonic decision pleased no one, and Reid ended up yanking the bill until next month after liberal opposition — most notably, a filibuster by Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) — jeopardized passage of anything.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=179135