WASHINGTON — The latest legislative attempt to give illegal immigrants a path to American citizenship is foundering, its fate symbolized by the fact that Senator McCain, whose name was once synonymous with such immigration legislation, skipped a vote on the bill.

The Arizona Republican rearranged his campaign schedule to return to Washington yesterday for a vote on a judicial nomination, but he did not stick around for a key vote just an hour later on the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, an immigration bill he co-sponsored in an earlier version.

The DREAM Act, which fell eight votes short of the 60 it needed to advance in the Senate, would allow illegal immigrants who came to America when they were younger than 16, have been enrolled in college for two years, and have lived in America for five years to apply for legal residency.

A rival of Mr. McCain’s for the Republican presidential nomination, Fred Thompson, had earlier issued a statement calling the bill “stealth amnesty.”

Mr. McCain issued no statement on the immigration vote, but an aide said he had to catch a flight to Iowa, where he was scheduled to deliver a speech seven hours after the DREAM Act vote concluded.

The aide pointed to the senator’s recent statements on immigration, in which he has acknowledged that his support for legislation creating a path to citizenship for many of the nation’s 12 million illegal immigrants has hurt his campaign. The comprehensive immigration overhaul bill, which was backed by President Bush and many Democrats, faced a torrent of opposition from conservatives, who said it amounted to amnesty.

“As Senator McCain has said many times, the American people have spoken,” the aide said. “They have lost their trust in government and want the border secure first, before tackling other aspects of our immigration problem.”

The DREAM Act had been included in the broader legislation that collapsed earlier this year, but supporters, led by Senator Durbin, a Democrat of Illinois, had hoped it might stand a better chance of passing on its own.

The vote yesterday was 52-44, with supporters of the bill unable to overcome a filibuster led by conservative Republicans. Senators Clinton and Schumer both voted in favor of the DREAM Act. Like Mr. McCain, Mrs. Clinton had canceled morning campaign events to be in Washington for the confirmation vote of Judge Leslie Southwick, a judicial nomination that she and many other Democrats opposed over questions about her record on civil rights.

The New York senator also had an evening speech scheduled in Iowa, but she stayed for the DREAM Act. A Clinton spokesman said she would be able to make it to the speech on time.

In a statement, Mrs. Clinton expressed disappointment in the Senate vote and said current law is unfair to children brought to America by parents who entered the country illegally. “Through no fault of their own, they are forced to live in the shadows and denied their chance at achieving their God given potential,” she said.

For Mr. McCain, the vote yesterday was an example of the bind he faces on immigration. He was alone among Republican presidential candidates in supporting the comprehensive legislation that failed. His decision to duck another vote could help him with critics of immigration, but it could also undermine his efforts to cast himself a politician willing to take unpopular policy stances.

Democrats quickly seized on that angle yesterday. “Missing the vote on the DREAM Act is consistent with McCain’s chase for conservative votes, if not with his principles,” a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee, Luis Miranda, said. “Once again he’s avoiding taking a stand on what was previously a signature issue.”