Desperation
We are going to start off with an editorial published in the Wall Street Opinion Journal today entitled, How We Got Here: Why Republicans can’t let the judicial filibuster succeed. The writer’s main point is as follows:
“As for Republicans who want to preserve the option of filibustering a future nominee, it’d be just as wrong for them to do so. And Democrats willing to use the filibuster to block judges would not have any qualms about using the nuclear option themselves to kill a filibuster in the future. Ted Kennedy and Chuck Schumer believe in the “whatever it takes” school of politics.
This is at its core a political fight, and elections ought to mean something. Republicans have gained Senate seats in two consecutive elections in which judicial nominations were among the most important issues, including against the Senate Minority Leader. The one Democrat from a red state who won last year, Ken Salazar of Colorado, did so by promising to oppose judicial filibusters; he now seems to have changed his mind after sipping the Beltway’s partisan punch.”
Throughout this article the writer makes a great effort to be objective, and has achieved that goal. Even an objective observer like this writer has come to the conclusion, that filibustering judicial nominees is wrong.
Our next article is one written by Erick in Red State’s blog entitled, Is There A Shift In Strategy. He of course is referring to the news created last week by Senate Minorty Leader Reid with his shameful disclosure of an FBI file on one of the nominees. If you tie that in with today’s news reported by Robert Novak found here, you have to listen to what Erick has to say. Here is his summation:
“It’d be the perfect way to win. The President isn’t withdrawing nominees, so the Dems would be sending strong messages to nominees that if they intend to stay in the line of fire, 40 Senators will be happy to throw everything they have at the nominees and, should the nominees make it through the process, they will sit on the bench smeared in the records of the United States Senate.
It would also be the perfect way to score a hit on the President. Assassinate the character of various appointees and, with the help of a willing media, attempt to convey to the public that the President has nominated a group of unqualified religious fundamentalists and the Democrats are the only thing standing in the way of Bush imposing a theocracy.
Desperate Dems do call for desperate measures. It’s all speculation, but it would not surprise me.”
Hugh Hewitt has a paragraph in his last article posted yesterday which holds some optimism for the Republicans. In his final paragraph, he wrote the following:
“I do suspect that McCain’s political operation has told him that his desertion on this issue has deeply injured his presidential prospects, and that Hagel’s team is telling him of the same peril. Don’t be surprised if Senator McCain comes back onboard and declares that despite all his efforts, the Democrats are beyond negotiating. In fact, don’t be surprised if a lot of GOP senators thought wobbly end up voting with Frist –because it is the right thing to do, and also the only politically viable option left open. The idea that 41 Democrats get to pick the new Chief Justice after three successive GOP wins at the polls is unacceptable, and the party as a whole –not just the base, but every segment but the left margin– will be communicating that opinion over the next few days.”
Our opinion of all the above, is that Mr. Hewitt is correct in his optimism. All of what has been written above along with Robert Novak’s editorial has not been lost on the Democrats. They sense they are losing in public opinion, and are losing in the battle to collect wobbly votes from Senate Republicans.
They have nothing left to lose except their last shred of decency, and of course they are willing to lose that as well.
