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The 48-36 vote against invoking cloture effectively ended a week of work on the Senate floor on climate change legislation that was defined less by the debate's substance and more by partisan finger-pointing and procedural maneuvers.

Seven Republicans joined 39 Democrats and independents Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Bernie Sanders of Vermont to move toward passage of the legislation. They fell short of the 60 needed to cut off debate, but the bill's sponsors nonetheless claimed moral victory by citing the potential support from six lawmakers who missed the roll call.

"It's just a small step for mankind," Lieberman said, citing 54 senators who he said now are on record in support of cap-and-trade policies as a response to global warming. "It's a giant step forward for the U.S. Senate."

Senate Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said she would start negotiations next week with swing-vote lawmakers from farm states who still have concerns about the bill. Boxer said hearings on climate science and other emerging issues are possible this year, but it won't be until the next president is sworn into office that a new legislative proposal emerges from her committee.

"It's about moving forward so that this gets done," Boxer said. "A bill like this doesn't get done overnight."

Republican opposition centered all week on the costs that the climate legislation would impose on Americans already struggling with high gas and energy prices.

Don Stewart, spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), said in an interview that the bill's sponsors should not be gloating, given that they needed to rely on a number of conservative Democrats who have expressed publicly their reservations about the legislation.

"If you consider how many people are against the bill who voted for cloture without any amendments at all, it's a much different number," Stewart said. "I think they're going to have a hard time keeping their own members on this if it ever came to a vote."

Stewart's point was spot on. During the morning floor debate, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and other climate bill sponsors lobbied hard to sway swing-vote lawmakers, urging them to join their side on the procedural vote.

Notably, Sens. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Jim Webb (D-Va.) supported cloture. But Kerry and others failed to persuade Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) and Mary Landrieu (D-La.).

Presidential politics

Among the absent lawmakers who sent letters or statements backing the cloture vote were the two presumptive presidential nominees, Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.). While Obama did not go into detail on the climate legislation, McCain said he was not convinced the pending bill was the right one.

"That does not mean I believe the pending bill is perfect, and in fact, it is far from it," McCain said in his statement, citing concerns that pro-labor Davis-Bacon requirements should be cut and that the legislation does not do enough to spur construction of new nuclear power plants.

"Nuclear energy is an emission free source of electricity for the nation, which is why it simply must be part of the comprehensive solution to addressing climate change, and if it is not, I could not support the legislation's final passage," McCain said.

Kerry welcomed the candidates' positions on the side of cloture and insisted it may not have been such a bad thing to have them stay away from the floor.

"In a way, it's good that one didn't show up and the others did because it depoliticizes it," Kerry told reporters.

But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) did not see it quite that way.

"When you look at who Republicans have chosen as the new standard-bearer, this is not entirely surprising: Senator McCain says global warming is one of his top issues, but when he has the chance to do something about it, he doesn't even show up to work," Reid said in a statement.

With both presidential candidates supporting cap-and-trade legislation, many advocates expect action no matter who wins the White House. "What happened today in the U.S. Senate is indeed the laying of the foundation for a new president to be able to move rapidly to be able to get this done," Kerry said.

But Stewart, the McConnell spokesman, said he was not concerned with the differences between the party's presidential nominee and congressional Republicans.

"When Sen. McCain is president, he'll send over a bill that's different than this one," Stewart said. "You saw his list of concerns."

Click here to read the absent senators' letters of support for the cloture vote.

Click here for a breakdown of the cloture vote.

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