-Nathan, will these just be symbolic votes which will disappear in the -confrerence committee? Also, the votes were not along party lines at all.
Some may disappear, although the House has already overwhelmingly endorsed the antidumpting amendment. But given the fragility of the majority in the House, shenanigans in the conference committee could cost supporters a majority, especially in a few hard-hit swing districts that they barely held last fall.
And the votes on many of the amendments, especially the Dayton and Lieberman amendments, were very partisan. I posted the results of the Dayton amendment yesterday-- only a hardful of Democrats voted against it, while a few of the "black helicopter" GOPers crossed lines the other way. But the vast majority of each party were on opposite sides and the partisan divide was even starker on the Lieberman amendment supporting enforceable labor and environmental clauses.
The Dayton amendment was seen as serious enough that the White House has issued a veto threat over it. These votes are all too close to claim that anyone is playing show politics, since the final votes, especially in the House, could go either way.
-- Nathan Newman