When a final vote was taken, opponents of affiliation abstained rather than vote no.

"Thirty-one years ago, my opponent voted against the creation of the student-loan program in the first place," he said.

Incredibly, some opponents of a constitutional remedy plan to vote for Gephardt.

"Unfortunately, my opponent voted against most of those bills."

With Vincent refusing to resign, his opponents could vote at the meeting to fire him.

But my opponent voted to raise taxes 1,500 gazillion bazillion times.

The commissioner's opponents also could just vote to fire him, using a simple majority of the 28 clubs.

"My Republican opponent has voted time and again to cut education."

Some opponents had privately voted a day earlier in favor of the merger, the executives said.

(Even his leading opponent voted for him, and said so.)