If the 15 Democrats didn’t vote against it, the Bill would have gone to the President for signature.
That would have done more damage to the Republicans then not voting for it. Because if the Democrats voted for Cloture, they would have had the 60 votes and with a majority in the Senate would have got the bill passed.
Of course the MSM fails to mention this.
I don't think so. The bill was a trap, but not in the fashion others have said. The Democrats were and are fully aware that if this abomination were to get signed into law, there would be an immediate and massive backlash against those seen as responsible. Because President Bush was behind this bill, the Republicans could be portrayed as responsible if a significant number of them voted for it. But had the Democrats in either house forced it through over unanimous or near-unaninous rejection by Republicans, such portrayal wouldn't work.
If a third of the Republicans could be persuaded to vote for the bill, then it would have been incredibly in the Democrats' best interest to pass it (they get a huge benefit in immigrant votes, while Republicans bear most of the backlash). But without significant Republican acquiescence, the Democrats couldn't pass it without the backlash harming them far more severely than the new voters would help them.