Don’t despair over the Senate: a new voting rights law has never been closer | David Litt

The For the People Act was never going to pass on the first try. Here's why the vote marked a step forward

This week, the For the People Act - the most sweeping voting-rights legislation in more than 50 years - came before the United States Senate, a place known, especially to itself, as world's greatest deliberative body". Yet Republican senators refused to even debate the measure. Despite having the support of every member of the Democratic majority - a group of 50 senators that represents 40 million more constituents than their Republican counterparts - the bill failed to reach the 60-vote threshold for breaking a filibuster. It didn't even come close.

Given the stakes, it's hardly surprising that some have rushed to portray For the People Act's failure to pass the Senate as a political setback, a strategic misstep, or a presidency-defining blunder.