It all comes down to this

Saturday, Feb. 17, 2007 | 7:15 a.m.

WASHINGTON - This just might be the day Americans see their senators take a stand on whether to back President Bush's troop surge in Iraq.

Today's rare Saturday vote comes after the Senate spent the better part of two weeks arguing over the rules of the debate, leaving one prominent Republican to worry on the Senate floor this week that their jobs were becoming irrelevant.

The procedural infighting seemed especially inconsequential as the House pulled midnight sessions this week in a dramatic attempt to hold the first meaningful debate on the Iraq war since the invasion nearly four years ago.

One by one, House members took to the floor in mostly party-line speeches over the Democratic resolution against Bush's surge.

Nevada's Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley commended "our troops for their bravery" while saying Washington had "let them down" with a poor strategy for success.

Republican Rep. Jon Porter warned that the high troop morale would be hurt if Congress did not back the president. Republican Rep. Dean Heller pushed past his allotted five minutes to insist: "The choice before us today is clear - either America or al-Qaida."

No one seemed to notice when the Senate passed a massive bill to keep the government funded through the end of the fiscal year.

Nor did Bush divert much attention when he announced plans to extend the stay of 3,200 U.S. troops in Afghanistan as part of efforts to shore up that country's government.

Just as Nevada's House members, who all landed Thursday speaking slots, were taking their turns on the floor, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid turned all eyes back on the Senate.

Reid strode into the Senate press gallery Thursday afternoon to announce he was calling today's rare vote on the soon-to-be-passed House resolution. (It eventually passed Friday afternoon, 246-182, with 17 Republicans joining Democrats.)

"We're determined to give our troops and the American people the debate they deserve," Reid told reporters.

About 10 days earlier, the Senate had hit a logjam when Republican Senate leaders blocked an Iraq vote on procedural grounds, saying they wouldn't budge unless Democrats brought Republicans' pro-surge amendment to the floor.

Republican leadership continues to insist the debate is unfair without their proposals.

But some Republican senators have tired of going along with their party. They don't support the surge and threatened to stop the Senate from adjourning until the issue was debated.

With a precious weekend of presidential campaigning and hometown events at stake, not to mention the start of a weeklong Presidents Day recess, Senate Democratic leaders called the "bluff," as one senator put it, and scheduled today's vote.

Some lawmakers, like Nevada's Republican Sen. John Ensign, were already aboard planes heading back home. Ensign plans to return to Washington this morning, and both sides expect most of the senators to show up by afternoon.

Today's vote is another procedural one - to decide whether the Senate should proceed to a vote on the House resolution.

But it should be telling - already some of the Republican senators who oppose Bush have said they will buck their party and vote with Democrats this time.

Late Friday afternoon Republican leaders from both houses, minus Ensign, stood before the news media to warn that Democrats were just steps away from holding back funds for the troops. The White House jumped in to warn of troop funding cuts.

If Reid gets the 60 votes he needs to move forward, the debate can begin. If not, senators can spend the rest of Presidents Day weekend back home, explaining to their constituents why the Senate cannot seem to vote on the most important issue of the day.