Shooting yourself in the foot

Will someone please explain to me why the Democrats gave the Republicans a freebee by bringing the Gonzales no-confidence measure to a vote (on cloture) when they knew they'd lose? I mean, this didn't cost the Republicans anything. The ones who wanted to express no confidence in Gonzales for political purposes did so anyway, saying this wasn't a vote on that, it was a vote on closing down debate. Meanwhile, the White House can chortle that it beat the Dems, and the ever cooperative press can conclude this means the steam has gone out of the US attorney scandal and stop covering the continuing investigations. The Dems lose on every front.

Sometimes I really think they like to shoot themselves in the feet.