Detainee bill a defining vote for Election Day?

Protests against 'rushing' the detainee bill
In testimony to Specter’s committee, Thomas Sullivan, a Chicago lawyer who represents seven Saudis held at Guantanamo, denounced GOP leaders for “rushing (the detainee bill) up here just before elections where people are afraid to vote against this bill because somebody on the other side is going to put up a TV commercial and criticize them for it.”

(Sullivan contributed to the Senate campaigns of Democrats Amy Klobuchar and Barack Obama and to the 2004 presidential campaigns of Democrats John Kerry and Carol Moseley Braun.)

Likewise, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D- Vt. complained that “the administration’s sudden and belated haste to move ahead makes no sense, other than as a matter of crass electoral politics.”

Democrats hoped Monday that Specter might find other Republicans such as Sen. Mike DeWine of Ohio -– in a tight re-election race -- to join him in opposing the bill, perhaps allying with enough Democrats to defeat it on a straight up-or-down vote.

Disheartened rank-and-file Democrats
Some rank-and-file Democrats voiced dismay that the detainee bill looks headed to enactment.

“I'm heartbroken,” wrote a blogger with the pseudonym “Georgia10” at the Daily Kos website. “It pains me to watch our nation legalize torture with Democrats (so far) offering nothing more than a shrug.  Sure, there's grumbling on the left over the torture bill, but can Democrats stop it? Will they even try?”

“Why shouldn’t we (i.e., people who maintain some loyalty, however foolish, to the Democratic Party) expect ‘our’ leaders at least to filibuster the bill until after the election?” asked University of Texas law professor Sanford Levinson, in a posting on the blog “Balkinization.”

The question for Election Day is: If congressional Democrats don’t find some way to block the detainee bill, will that cause a demoralization of the Democratic base, causing lower turnout on Nov. 7?

“I think there is a risk that rank-and-file Democrats will become angered at Democratic leaders,” said Tom Matzzie, the Washington director for MoveOn.org. “But we’ll be telling the story that this is George Bush trying to legalize torture and the Republican Congress rubber-stamping it.”

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He dismissed the negotiations between McCain and the Bush administration as “Republicans putting on a kabuki dance.” He added, “If Republicans think legalizing torture plays to their political advantage, they haven’t been paying attention.”

It makes sense for GOP leaders to push the detainee issue because it appeals to their base. A Gallup Poll conducted Sept. 15-17 found that terrorism ranks as the number one election issue for Republicans. When presented with an array of six issues, including Iraq, terrorism ranked first for Republicans, with 29 percent of GOP voters picking it as the top issue. Only seven percent of Democrats saw terrorism as the most important issue in the Nov. 7 election.

The Gallup survey found that Iraq is the most pressing issue for Democrats.

GOP majorities in House and Senate mean that Republican leaders can put the detainee and NSA issue to an up-or-down vote.

But Democrats leaders have been unwilling to try to force a vote on the resolution by 19 House Democrats to cut off funding for the Iraq war.