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Reid the Rat [it's about power] ".......Reid clearly felt strongly about the [filibuster] when Democrats were the minority party in the Senate, and he insisted that as majority leader he would never target the filibuster. However, as the problems with the Obamacare rollout continue to mount, and the president barrels headlong into lame-duck territory amid plummeting poll numbers, Reid is invoking his “right to change how I feel about things.” As is the president, apparently.

Reid’s change of heart dates back to October 2011, when he used the nuclear option to scale back the ability of the Republican minority to offer amendments, something he has effectively restricted for years — in unprecedented fashion — through a process known as “filling the tree.” Republicans have often cited this tactic of “filling the tree” in defense of their decision to filibuster legislation. Earlier this year, Reid threatened to go nuclear again to eliminate the filibuster on executive-branch nominees, but not for judges. Feelings change.

Prominent interest groups on the left, however, have long desired the vitiation of minority rights in the Senate and have pestered Reid to take action ever since Obama took office. The Democratic class of 2012 includes some of the most liberal members of the Senate — Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Tammy Baldwin (Wis.), and Chris Murphy (Conn.), among others — who have been gunning for the filibuster. They’ve also never served in the minority, one might observe. “For Reid, it’s not about the institution, it’s about power,” says a senior GOP aide. “At the moment, his power resides in the confidence of the most liberal members of his caucus.”..........