As you said, John, he seems to be running scared, and you have to wonder why.

I understand about waiting, but this is maddening. The Bankruptcy Bill is about to affect two old friends who are going to be pulled down by medical bills, so that vote was personal for me.

Even when you can’t win, you need to make a stand to let your voters know you get it, and there’s a reason for voting for you.

Not so much “benefit of a doubt.” More like wait-until-we-get-a-majority-back, then show him the door.

I should add that I do not think the Nelson votes you identify show anything more than cravenness, an embarrassing lack (for a lawmaker) of practical legal knowledge, and myopic political vision. On this last point, more than most (thanks to Harris’ incompetence) he was in a unique position this week to forge ahead of the pack of spineless Democrats, display real moral leadership skills, and position himself on the national scene as a welcome backbone for the Democratic Party; someone who is ready, able, and willing to defend the Constitution and individual liberty.

Nelson let that once-in-a-dozen-lifetimes opportunity slip from from his fingers — and, worse for him, he made a lasting impression on tens of millions, nationwide as well as in Florida, who will never forget his contemptible vote on final passage.

The similarity of Nelson’s votes to Leiberman’s record makes me very uncomfortable, but at least Nelson hasn’t kissed Bush …. that we know of.

BTW, I did get a kick out of this two-liner by Michael Berlin from Los Angeles. After yesterday’s vote he says, “Now the Evil Doers won’t hate our freedom. I feel safer already.”

Hey! Maybe that’s Bush’s strategy. Take away all our freedoms, drive the U.S. economy off a cliff with war debt, grind a heel into the middle class who become insolvent because of emergency health care debts, quickly exhaust the world’s remaining gas supplies, and warm the earth up so that stronger hurricanes will destroy the Gulf and East coasts. Then the extremists won’t have reason to hate us anymore.