A New Day Dawning

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Thursday had always promised to be an ordeal. The finish line was in sight, but it was guarded by a grizzly--the non-severability amendment that, if passed, would throw all their hard work in doubt. Throughout the week the bill's opponents watched McCain rack up victories, knowing they had this last weapon. But McCain had 150,000 weapons of his own: e-mail correspondents who were kept abreast of the bill's progress and told which Senate offices to barrage with calls and e-mails. On Thursday they made sure that 20 Senate office switchboards were lit up all day. McCain's Straight Talk America cyberoperation would put out an alert if a member was wandering off the reservation. "Literally, within an hour, we'd have complaints on the Senate floor" from the Senator in question, says strategist Rick Davis. Illinois' Dick Durbin, whose vote was in question, at one point came up to McCain on the floor and, according to Davis, said, "Look, I'm going to vote with you guys. Tell your people to cease and desist."

But until the final vote on non-severability Thursday afternoon, McCain and Feingold didn't know if they had the votes they needed to kill it. Seven or eight Democrats were worried that if the courts threw out the limits on independent issue ads, lawmakers would be left without the soft money they need to fight back. The tally was expected to be very close--a pro-reform lobbyist was counting 51 votes on his side--and there was even speculation that Dick Cheney might come in to break a tie. But at last, once it was clear the reformers would prevail, wavering Senators climbed aboard. That, many reformers agreed, was a tribute to Daschle, who in the end earned McCain's trust and kept most Democrats in line. "This was truly Daschle's day," said Fred Wertheimer of Democracy 21. "McCain is entitled to his credit, but the Democrats supplied the votes."

McConnell accepted defeat and warned his colleagues what the new world might look like. "This is mutual assured destruction of the political parties," he said. "There won't be one penny less spent on politics it just won't be spent by the parties." Instead, he predicted, there would be a "battle of billionaires over the political discourse in this country" as power was transferred from the parties to the press, academia, Hollywood and the richest individuals. He says half a dozen Democrats came up later and said they were stunned by what they had done to their party.

Cindy McCain sat in the gallery high above the action. On the floor her husband was so happy that he looked close to tears. Feingold, not known for his collegiality, was as congenial as could be, huddling with other Democrats, a broad smile on his face.