knew it would fail to pass because republicans wanted more debate and had promised to act first on tax cuts. so this afternoon on the floor of the senate, reid said they had to vote today because time had simply run out. >> this has been taking months to do this. months. and the time is gone, as senator levin has said, to stop playing around with this. >> now, whatever you think of ending don't ask, don't tell, and we don't take sides on policy issues on this program, today was a clear cut case of politics trumping policy. it's a sign of what washington is like today, that a majority of lawmakers could not pass a bill, a majority of americans said they want. it's a sign of what washington is like, that a number of senators voted against what they say they're for. dana bash has been following the political posturing on capitol hill. what happened today? how -- is that -- do you believe that's accurate? is that essentially what happened? politics trumping personal opinions here? >> politics in process. look. i mean, there's no other way around it. i'll tell you, first thing this morning i was getting word on my