Has the GOP Cave-in Begun on the Biden Amendment?

Hugh Hewitt was in quite a lather on yesterday's show regarding the possibility that the GOP may allow the Biden anti-war resolution to go forward without a cloture vote. This would suggest that Biden has managed to find 11 Republicans willing to let this thing go to a floor vote in the Senate. That's not good news for the country, and especially bad news for Senate Republicans. I'll explain why in a moment. Here's what Hugh had to say on his blog:

You can't trust CNN, but reports are circulating there and elsewhere that the Republicans in the Senate will agree to cloture on the Biden resolution, trading a vote for the Biden resolution in exchange for a vote on an amendment offered by John Cornyn. The fear is that there are 11 Republicans who will vote for cloture with 49 Democrats (Lieberman voting no and Johnson absent.)

My firm view is that this maneuver will be shocking to the GOP base, and not just the 21,000+ who have signed The Pledge. It will be seen, rightly, as an abandonment of the troops, an encouragement to the enemy, and an indication that the Senate republicans still lack the will to fight for anything except their seats. The Republican senators urging " a deal" to allow the Democrats to get a vote on Biden without getting the 60 votes for cloture clearly do not believe General Petraeus or Secretary Gates or don't care about stopping an "encouragement to the enemy." Instead of demanding that republican senators not vote for cloture, John McCain is joining John Warner in seeking a "compromise" on this issue, Gang of 14 style, that will end up handing the Democrats what they want --a victory on the Biden resolution. If Mitch McConnell agrees to this deal, he will be signaling the GOP base that nothing --nothing-- has changed in D.C. when it comes to the Senate Republicans.

What part of "encouragement to the enemy" don't the Republican senators understand? They can stop the Biden resolution, or at least do the public the service of illuminating which republicans are willing to join Democrats in providing that encouragement. There is no valid reason --none-- to agree to cloture.

During the Beltway Boys segment on Hugh's show Friday Mort Kondracke suggested that a filibuster of this bill would be a sign of weakness. I strongly disagree. I look at it as a sign of principle, and if the Republicans truly believe this resolution would encourage our enemies and demoralize our friends (and especially our troops), they should fight it with every tool they have, including the filibuster.

Maybe there are 11 Republicans willing to let this thing go to a vote. It's better we find out now who they are so we won't have to waste any money supporting them in the future. In a little over 48 hours nearly 24,000 people have signed the pledge to withhold funds from the National Republican Senatorial Committee should GOP senators sign on to this resolution, and if you'd like to join that list, you can click here. The blogroll on that list includes a huge number of bloggers like myself, and most of the top conservative names. Since each blog represented on that list has anywhere from a few to thousands of readers, somebody in the Republican Party should be paying attention.

The GOP may choose to ignore it, but they do so at their own risk. The NRSC didn't get as much money in 2006 as it had in the past because many people were upset with the antics of GOP senators, such as those on the Gang of 14. If the GOP allows this resolution to go through without a fight, they won't get enough money in '08 to elect a dogcatcher in Poughkeepsie.