Jim Burroway pulls no punches:
Just like before, political gamesmanship trumps sound policy. But the problem wasn’t just in the Senate. Remember, it was President Obama who insisted that the Senate shouldn’t act before the Defense Department’s study was released a report that wasn’t scheduled to be released until December 1, right in the middle of a lame duck session following what everyone knew would be a contentious mid-term election. This was his brilliant plan, and he owns the outcome as much as Reid and the GOP.
Jonathan Bernstein is befuddled:
I still don't understand Reid's thinking. Yes, Republicans could have dragged things out until January...but so what, if ultimately it gets done before the clock runs out? And what exactly is the downside if they try and just can't quite finish?
Meanwhile, Mark Udall just went to the Senate floor and said he'd like to see either another bite at this, or an attempt to bring back DADT as a standalone bill. Reid's office apparently believes that, too, could be blocked, but I'm not really sure why they believe that, if there are really 60 votes for it and, say, ten calendar days remain after the rest of their business gets done.
Ezra Klein uses the vote to attack the filibuster:
The diffusion of responsibility that comes from deciding law through complex parliamentary gamesmanship rather than simple majority-rules votes is the problem. What happened today is that a majority of the Senate voted for a bill that the majority of Americans support. The bill did not pass. Neither Harry Reid nor Susan Collins are ultimately responsible for that. The rules of the Senate are.
Sam Stein tweets:
On Manchin, aide says: “I would say that if he was somehow the 60th vote, I do not think he would have voted the way he did"