That's the way the Senate used to operate all the time. You didn't know what was going to happen. You'd lay a bill down, you'd let the Senate work its will. What's telling the story is that there's a good 20 to 25 members that are looking at each amendment on its own merits. As they skirmish over the campaign reform bill sponsored by Feingold and Arizona Republican John McCain, senators on both sides are embracing the debate's unusual openness.
Amendments come up every three hours.
The political lines shift from vote to vote. Almost no one claims to know the eventual outcome. You didn't know what was going to happen. You'd lay a bill down, you'd let the Senate work its will. While this may sound like normal legislative procedure, there are several things that make this debate distinctive.