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Quoting Politico:
I have my doubts that Biden actually has 60 votes, or that the calculus has changed that much since the first bill failed. The only major change, other than the declining support for new gun control measures, is Michael Bloomberg's willingness to buy elections. So, who could he buy in order to get them to switch their vote?
( Read more... )
That said, all of this is idle speculation. Nobody is going to switch their vote to help pass a universal background check bill unless Bloomberg's money is an unqualified benefit for their re-election, and nobody on the list of "no" votes meets that criterion. The reason for this is simple: the vote in the Senate is purely symbolic. Whatever gun control measure passes the Senate is dead on arrival in the Republican-controlled House, which is likely to stay in Republican hands until 2023.
In other words, it's actually pretty likely that Biden is just spinning tales to keep the base enthusiastic.
“I’ve had at least five senators call me and say, ‘Can’t we do something about this?’” Biden said. “The calculus has changed, and so we’re in an effort to try to work out how we can provide another opportunity for those who voted no to change their vote. We all know that’s the hardest thing in politics, to change your vote. That’s why we’ve got to get a rationale, another reason why this could be done by changing the specifics of the legislation.”
Biden hasn’t conveyed which senators he’s spoken with or how the background checks bill might be altered.
I have my doubts that Biden actually has 60 votes, or that the calculus has changed that much since the first bill failed. The only major change, other than the declining support for new gun control measures, is Michael Bloomberg's willingness to buy elections. So, who could he buy in order to get them to switch their vote?
( Read more... )
That said, all of this is idle speculation. Nobody is going to switch their vote to help pass a universal background check bill unless Bloomberg's money is an unqualified benefit for their re-election, and nobody on the list of "no" votes meets that criterion. The reason for this is simple: the vote in the Senate is purely symbolic. Whatever gun control measure passes the Senate is dead on arrival in the Republican-controlled House, which is likely to stay in Republican hands until 2023.
In other words, it's actually pretty likely that Biden is just spinning tales to keep the base enthusiastic.
