Webb amendment needs three more votes

Senator Jim Webb's (D-VA) amendment, which would require that all soldiers spend at least as much time at home as oversees, is just a few Senators away from reaching the 60 votes of support to force cloture.

Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) gave us an update earlier today:

“Right now, Senator Webb’s amendment, I would guess, has at least 57votes, on a bipartisan basis,” said Reed on ABC’s This Week with GeorgeStephanopoulos. “We want to move and move forward, pick up thevotes. This process is sometimes too slow, but it’s a process that Ithink is going in the right direction. We’re picking up support. And Ithink on this issue, we can pick up sufficient votes -- 60, I hope 67.”

I don't know about 67.  Maybe 60 or 62.  Remember, 60 is required to break a Republican filibuster.  67 is required to override a Bush veto.

More importantly, what this does is turn it into a showdown between George W. Bush and Jim Webb -- exactly what we want.  Unlike some other Democrats, Webb is not a wimp.  He stands up.  He has courage.  He is not afraid to give us the hard truth.  Voters respect that.  He should be out there, front and center, debating Bush, as opposed to Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid.