The Real Reason Reid Pulled the FISA Bill; or, How Dodd Won My Vote

Let's be honest about this: The real reason Reid pulled the FISA bill last night wasn't because of the time needed for debate, blah blah blah. This is just face saving from Reid:

"Everyone feels it would be to the best interests of the Senate that we take a look at this when we come back after the first of the year," said Reid, D-Nevada.

"With more than a dozen amendments to this complex and controversial bill, this legislation deserves time for thorough discussion on the floor," he said.

Reid has been very cautious about the Democratic presidential primaries, and the fact is that Chris Dodd was about to embarrass the senators in the race big time. They had a choice of coming back from Iowa to support his filibuster--bad timing for that--or being accused of not standing by their word. They promised to support a filibuster, and Dodd called their hand. They didn't want to do it, so Reid pulled the bill to avoid embarrassing them.

Brilliant. Chris Dodd may have won my vote last night.

PS: Interesting how Dodd's name appears nowhere in the CNN story I linked above, isn't it?