Just as I predicted last night, the Law of the Sea Treaty won approval from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today, but the 17-4 vote was a significant improvement from just three years ago when the treaty advanced without any opposition. The four Republicans opposing the treaty included Sens. Norm Coleman (Minn.), Jim DeMint (S.C.), Johnny Isakson (Ga.) and David Vitter (La.).

David Ridenour of the National Center for Public Policy Research summed it up this way:

Although the Committee voted to send the treaty to the full Senate for consideration, there was a marked increase in opposition to it from just three years ago. In 2004, it was approved 19-0. This morning there were four nay votes.

The tide is turning against the Law of the Sea Treaty. The full Republican Senate leadership opposes it as well as presidential candidates Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Senator Fred Thompson, Governor Mike Huckabee, Rep. Tom Tancredo, Rep. Ron Paul and Rep. Duncan Hunter.

Michelle Malkin provided updates throughout the debate, making special note of Sen. David Vitter’s (R-La.) reasonable request for another hearing on LOST. Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Joe Biden (D-Del.) rejected any attempts by conservatives to delay consideration and chastised conservatives Frank Gaffney and Fred Smith for their opposition.

So where do we go from here? The good news is that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is standing firmly against the treaty. With four Republicans now also on the record opposing LOST — Coleman and Isakson were key votes today — there’s clearly a tide turning against this U.N. power grab.