The Nation - News from Feb. 26, 1988

A weary Senate ended 53 hours of continuous and sometimes cantankerous debate over campaign finance legislation, leaving Democrats no closer to victory than when the filibuster began Tuesday. By agreement between majority Democrats and Republicans, the talking stopped about 7 p.m., setting up a vote today on a Democratic cloture motion to force a vote on their campaign legislation. Democrats have the votes to pass the bill, but they had virtually no hope of mustering the 60 needed to win today’s cloture roll call. The legislation would set voluntary spending ceilings for congressional candidates and limit the total amount of PAC contributions they could receive.