Impasse Continues

Excerpts from the New York Times

Senators on both sides agree that the law is necessary, yet on Sunday, their efforts to renew it remained stalled. Democrats are pressing for a three-month extension to give lawmakers time to settle their differences, but the White House and the Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, have refused.

With the House trying to adjourn for the year early Monday and the Senate by midweek, Mr. Frist said Sunday that he had not decided whether to call for a second vote. Mr. Specter, meanwhile, said Sunday that he had called his Democratic counterpart, Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, to suggest a change in the bill. But asked if he thought it was still possible to get the bill passed, Mr. Specter did not sound optimistic. "Well, barely," he said.

Polls show that public support for the Patriot Act has waned over time and that the more Americans know about the act, the less they like it.

An ABC News poll in June found that half of Americans believed the government was doing enough to protect their privacy, down from three-quarters shortly after the act was passed. A Gallup poll, also conducted in June, found that 30 percent believed the Patriot Act went "too far" in restricting civil liberties, but among those very familiar with the bill, the figure was 45 percent.

And a University of Connecticut survey, published in August, found that roughly three-quarters of Americans worried that the Patriot Act would be abused to investigate matters unrelated to terrorism.

"The polls are pretty clear that voters want limits on the government's power," said Geoff Garin, a Democratic strategist. "This is really an argument not about fighting terrorism but about checks and balances and unbridled government authority."

Mr. Garin says the Patriot Act generates particular suspicion among white male voters, who resist government intrusion on matters ranging from gun ownership to property rights. That could explain why the biggest supporter of gun rights in the Senate, Senator Larry Craig, Republican of Idaho, is among those backing the filibuster.

Another Republican backer of the filibuster, Senator John E. Sununu of New Hampshire, said: "In my state, I think there's pretty strong support for protecting civil liberties during times of war and peace."

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