NELSON: CASE IN POINT. I don't want to keep beating up on Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) -- I realize he may be the best one can hope for out of Nebraska -- but today he once again cast a decisive (corrected, as commenters had noted) vote of major importance. By a 51-48 margin, the Senate rejected an amendment to strike provisions on habeus corpus review from the putrid "compromise" bill on torture. It was a party-line vote, Nelson being the only Democrat voting with the majority. This is not long after Nelson earned the dubious distinction of being the only Democrat to vote against funding for embryonic stem cell research. If the Senate is more closely divided next term, liberals will need to bring some pressure to bear on guys like Nelson.
--Ben Adler
