Today’s edition of quick hits.
* The Senate voted 64-35 to revive the immigration compromise bill that appeared dead last week. A similar test-vote earlier this month found just 45 supporters (7 Republicans), while today generated 64 voted (including 24 Republicans). In other words, after a massive push from the far-right GOP base, the Republican Party is further away from the activists’ demands.
* Following up on Sen. Dick Lugar’s (R-Ind.) much-discussed speech on the war in Iraq, Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) said today that he too believes the U.S. should begin pulling troops out of Iraq. He said the Iraqi people must become more involved and “I don’t think they’ll get it until they know we’re leaving.”
* On a related note, Lugar told reporters today that the White House called him to ask for a meeting. “Lugar would not say who he is meeting with or when it would happen, but all indications are that it will be National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley and it will take place later in the week.”
* An important bill expanding workers’ rights to form unions, the Employee Free Choice Act, was scuttled today when Senate Dems were unable to end a Republican filibuster. There were 51 votes in support of the bill, nine short of ending GOP obstructionism.
* It looks like Rep. John Doolittle’s (R-Calif.) career is fading fast: “California GOP Rep. John Doolittle’s former chief of staff is providing documents to federal prosecutors investigating Doolittle and his wife in the Jack Abramoff influence-peddling scandal, the aide’s attorney told The Associated Press on Monday.”
* CNN poll: support for the war in Iraq slips to 30%, an all-time low.
* I certainly hope everyone has already ordered their copy of Glenn Greenwald’s new book, “A Tragic Legacy: How a Good vs. Evil Mentality Destroyed the Bush Presidency.” If not, get to it.
* Why would PBS hire a Republican pollster to do analysis of a Democratic debate?
* WaPo: “Five years after they helped craft and implement [the No Child Left Behind policy], senior administration officials from Bush’s first term are speaking out against the law with increasing boldness. The shift, combined with mounting criticism from both the political right and left in Congress, is causing supporters of the law to worry that it might not win renewal this year.”
* The AP is starting to take note of Fred Thompson’s career as a lobbyist.
* Is the war in Iraq not newsworthy enough this week?
* For a guy who “apologized” for his comments about assassinating Hugo Chavez, TV preacher Pat Robertson keeps reemphasizing how serious he was.
* Presidents rewarding donors with plum ambassador posts isn’t unusual, but in news that probably won’t surprise anyone, Bush does it far more than his predecessors.
* The Hill ran a pretty weak piece today about House Dems allegedly wanting to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan. James Joyner explains why the piece is “a manufactured story.”
* Was the Antoin Rezko prosecution in Chicago politically motivated?
* Did you notice that your favorite Internet radio station was offline today? It wasn’t a glitch; it was an intentional Day of Silence, organized to protest a sharp royalty-fee increase that many Internet-based broadcasters say could drive them out of business. (thanks to tAiO for the tip)
* And finally, 50 high school seniors in the Presidential Scholars program presented Bush with a letter yesterday, urging the president to end “violations of the human rights” of terror suspects held by the United States. The handwritten letter said the students “believe we have a responsibility to voice our convictions. We do not want America to represent torture.” The students had been invited to the East Room to hear the president speak about his effort to win reauthorization of his No Child Left Behind policy.
Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.