[rcocean]

Here's my problem. Reid has nothing to keep Nelson, or any other Red Democrat Senator in line. How does Salazar or the Demo senator from SD benefit from this filibuster?

Reid can't promise or take away their power -he's a MINORITY leader, or punish them via the white house, or reduce their chances of running for president in 2008. (Do you think Salazar, Nelson, or any redstate Democrat to the right of Hillary has a chance?) Don't forget, in most Red states, being against Bush's judges, IS NOT a winning issue.

Yet, Reid could keep EVERYONE in line! And Friest couldn't keep 7 RINO's from stabbing us in the back. And we had everything on our side, senate history, the right of majority, etc. I mean, if anyone had the high ground it was the Repubs. I'd would vote for the nuclear option if John Kerry was president, because its the right thing to do.

And yet we caved. McCrazy and his band of back stabbing RINO's let us down.

[BillF]

You raise some good points.

You ask why the Dems were kept in line. Two comments.

See my second, third, and fourth points in:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1408980/posts?page=2013#2013 . To the extent that all Dems were kept in line, those points may partly explain why.
Next, the 7 Dems broke ranks at least to an extent. They were not kept completely in line. Those 7 Dems are letting in the three judges that most upset the Dem base and Dem Senators.

Moving on, the panel on Brit Hume's Special Report had an interesting take.

Morton Kondracke claims that the GOP won because the Dem seven let the three judges painted as "most extreme" by Dems. Therefore, "extraordinary circumstances" will not apply to other pending judicial nominations and those Dem seven will not filibuster at least until a liberal Supreme Court Justice must be replaced. Kondracke thinks that this will get up or down votes for all judges until a liberal Supreme Court Justice needs replacing. This is a ceasefire that works to the GOP benefit for the time being, per his thinking.

Charles Krauthammer has a much different take. He said that pending judicial nominees, other than the three guaranteed a vote, have been thrown off the train. Those other pending nominees will be filibustered with the Dem seven backing the filibusters. Kondracke thinks otherwise.

If Kondracke is right, the Constitutional option is not needed until a liberal SC Justice needs replacing. Judicial nominees will not be filibustered by 40 or more Dems until that day.

I hope that Kondracke is right, but I fear that Krauthammer is right. Probably 6 to 10 Senators in each party don't even know for sure how they are going to behave in the future when these issues resurface. Their future decisions will determine which side is victorious. Only time will tell.