An Extraordinary Victory

When the moment finally arrived yesterday for the Senate to consider the bill known alternately as Shays-Meehan and McCain-Feingold, it passed so easily you would hardly know what the fuss had been about. Yet approval of the biggest election reform in a generation, by a vote to 60 to 40, had just overcome what seemed only six months ago to be impossible odds. Congratulations were heard, and merited, all across the Capitol. But a few more steps remain. President Bush must sign the bill. The courts must uphold its constitutionality. And the Federal Election Commission, which helped gut existing campaign finance laws, must vigorously enforce the new rules.