Once more into the breech: We’ve been having a discussion in the Pensito Review garret about the possibility of a filibuster against the nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court.
Trish has come out in favor of it in rather big way, and is considering quitting the Democratic Party if something isn’t done.
Buck, a registered Independent, and I, the quintessential yellow dog Dem, are a bit squishy on it. My concern is that this battle ended on election day last November when voters picked President Bush over John Kerry.
On the other hand, our poor hapless Democratic representatives in the Senate have very little lose — and a lot to gain — by attempting to embarrass Mr. Bush by stopping this nomination.
Right now, C-SPAN is reporting that 90 senators have stated their position on the Alito nomination. There are 56 “yes” votes and and 34 confirmed “no” votes.
To move the vote forward, Republicans must have 60 votes. Sen. Lincoln Chaffee, the liberal Republican from Rhode Island, has said he will vote for cloture — in other words against the filibuster — and then vote against Alito in the floor vote on the nomination.
Undecideds as of 12:30 PST:
Democrats
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Republicans
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You can keep up with the progress of the push to filibuster at Democrats.com — along with contact info for undecided senators – here.
Update: Correction: Cousin Trish is not necessarily in favor of the filibuster, but wants the Dems to vote Alito down.
I omitted Sen. Robert Byrd, Democrat of West Virginia, above. He is also voting for Alito.
In the past couple of hours, the New Jersey senators, Lautenberg and Menendez, have announced they are voting against their homestate boy.
Republican Blue-stater Lincoln Chafee surprised me by indicating he’ll vote “no,” but he is canceled out by the fact that Democrat Red-stater Kent Conrad will vote “yes.”
At 12: 20 PM Pacific, there are 57 “yes” votes and 37 “no’s.”
You misread me, cuz. I didn’t mention a filibuster, and would actually prefer our team simply vote “No” in reliable numbers.
The filibuster could be (have been) either a public relations success or disaster, depending on how well and how much of a groundswell the Dems could have (didn’t) generate. They blew it and if they use the filibuster now, the Repugs will make them look indecisive and unorganized. While the Dems may indeed be both those things, there’s no good reason to give the Repugs an opportunity to point it out to voters.
THE DEMS need to get off of their ASSES and stand up against that SOB W. and show the REPUGS that they still have a say in a few things! filibuster or not! LET THEM NUCLEAR OPTION IT! LET FRIST CHANGE THE RULES! for soon DEMS will be in power again AND THEN SEE WHAT THE HELL THE REPUGS CAN DO THEN! FOR IT WAS THEM THAT CHANGED IT! FILIBUSTER or do whatever you have to do to stop that SOB busah from getting what he wants all of the time! and put aomeone in charge to FINISH ABRAMOFF’S PROSECUTION! and TAKE IT THRU all who has had envolvement and MAKE THEM ALL PAY for their MISTAKES!
Cousine - You’re right, of course, I misread what you said. I think you’re in luck then — and so is the party, I might add — because it appears that all but a few Dems will vote “no.”