And Then There Was One

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WASHINGTON, D.C.: The razor-thin margin opposing a balanced budget amendment in the Senate got a lot thinner Tuesday when Louisiana freshman Democrat Mary Landrieu announced she would vote with the GOP on the bill despite some reservations about its language. With Landrieu's qualified support, the Republican leadership is just one vote shy of the needed two-thirds supermajority. With all 55 Republicans and 11 Democrats supporting the measure, the move means that freshman Senator Robert Torricelli will cast the deciding ballot in a vote that could come as early as next Friday. The New Jersey Democrat is being torn between loyalty to his party and abandoning the position he staked out in his fierce campaign. TIME Congressional correspondent Tamala Edwards reports from Washington that Senate passage could give the amendment enough momentum to make a good showing the House. But GOP leaders there are a little gunshy after losing other close votes, Edwards says, and won't risk political capital on the amendment if it fails the Senate. Edwards also notes that President Clinton can undercut support for the amendment by reassuring his own party's deficit hawks of his commitment to actually balancing the budget. In that way, the GOP can use the credible threat of an amendment to win a more favorable budget deal. "It's a question of long-term versus short-term goals," she says. But despite the fact that this is the major ideological battle in the current Congress, chastened politicians on both sides are making great efforts not to seem too partisan. "Nothing brings you back to reality like an election," notes Edwards. So both sides will continue to lean hard on Torricelli -- only they'll do so quietly.