The 79-18 procedural vote on the Udall Amendment shouldn’t be confused with a 79-18 vote in favor of amendment itself. Consider this quote from The Hill: “We should have debate on this important amendment,” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said before voting for cloture. “The majority should be made to answer why they want to silence critics.” It appears that many Republicans voted in favor of considering the amendment in order to vent their arguments against it. In other words, they think the question of whether to reverse Citizens United and McCutcheon is going to expose the Democrats as censors, as anti-speech, anti-competitive illiberal tyrants. This is THE MOMENT when both sides think they can win, in other words, this is the beginning (once again). Democracy versus plutocracy, capitalism versus crony capitalism. The stakes could not possibly be any higher. Here’s the only reporting I’ve found on last night’s vote thus far.