<$BlogRSDUrl$>

My personal musings about anything that gets on my radar screen--heavily dominated by politics.

2005-03-16

Approaching Critical

Democrats yesterday said they will halt all Senate business except essential operations and national defense if Republicans use the "nuclear option" to unclog President Bush's judicial nominees.

In what was surely one of the most ridiculous pieces of political theater I've ever watched, Minority Leader Reid (or, as I like to think of him, Senator Piglet) tossed off some way over the top rhetoric while standing with 35 of his Senate colleagues.

Wait a second. . . 35? Yep. Not all of the Dems wanted a piece of this action.

Absent from Mr. Reid's side yesterday were nine Democrats, several of whom have expressed reservations about Democratic strategies on judicial nominees.

Hmmmm. That's interesting. Wait a second. . .doesn't Colorado have a Democratic Senator?

But even standing with Mr. Reid yesterday didn't necessarily mean endorsing his strategy. Sen. Ken Salazar, the Colorado Democrat who supported previous Bush nominees, stood on the Senate steps but later refused to say whether he would help grind the Senate to a halt.

"I hope we don't have to get there," Mr. Salazar said as he walked into the Senate chamber after the press conference. "I don't think it's healthy for the Senate or for the country."

Pressed about whether he will support a shutdown, Mr. Salazar said: "I will oppose the power of arrogance. But that doesn't mean I won't vote for individual nominees."

Well, there you go, Coloradans. Clear as mud.

What this does point out, though, is that it is entirely possible that the Dems will not be able to sustain a filibuster at all, much less shut down the Senate should it come to that. Kudos to Bill Frist for playing a good hand of poker. Obviously, it's not over yet, but the Democrats do seem to be becoming more and more divested from the strategy of Obstruct at all Costs.
Posted by: Michael / 3/16/2005 01:16:00 AM

Weblog Commenting by HaloScan.com

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?