Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., may not have the votes to pass a gun control bill that is already far weaker than President Obama wanted, but he is plowing ahead anyway today, hoping the addition of even more loopholes will convince reticent red state Democrats and wavering Republicans to switch sides. “Am I saying it’s all over with, done, we got the votes?” Reid told a scrum of reporters yesterday, “No. But we certainly feel we have the wind at our back.”

Other Democrats seemed less optimistic. “We didn’t think it would be this difficult,” Sen. Benjamin Cardin, D-Md., told McClatchy. “We’re not there today,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., added. “We’re working hard to try to get people to ‘yes’ … Manchin-Toomey is not set in stone.”