[Lyford]

Frist folds.

I don't see it. Running the senate's like herding cats. If those 14 Senators make the agreement that they've made, there's not thing one that Frist (or Reid) can do about it. Reid can try to maintain the filibuster, but without those "moderate" Democrats, the cloture vote will pass. Frist can try to change the rules, but without those "moderate" Republicans, he can't. I don't see this deal involving Frist or Reid at all.

[goldstategop]

True. Basically the middle took over in the Senate and told the partisans to sit down and shut up. Its not going to make the guys who want a barroom fight in both parties happy. Whether the agreement means that President Bush's nominees are going to get the up and down vote they deserve remains to be seen. But at the end of the day, Dingy Harry knew he was outmanuvered and took the deal he could get.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

[ClaireSolt]

You can say this is not Frist's fault, yet it seems to me that Trent Lott could hold all of the Republicans and get six Democrats, too.

[Darkwolf]

Uh, so Frist couldn't have brought on the nuclear option? Where do you get THAT from?

Frist can't even herd cats. If he could, according to your analogy, McCain and company wouldn't even be in the position to do what they did. "Knock it off or else." THAT is what Frist's JOB is.

If he can't do the job, he should step down. He looks like a doofus up there going on about everyone holding hands and singing Kumbaya. He is topped only by that aw-shucks crap from Graham.

[America's Resolve]

If those 14 Senators make the agreement that they've made, there's not thing one that Frist (or Reid) can do about it.

This is nonsensical. If this was the case, Frist wouldn't be majority leader anyways because they'd have 14 senators going off reservation for every stinkin budget deal, every SS deal, every resolution ever created.

Frist and the leadership HAVE to approve of any such deals or they aren't the leadership, just another group of senators that make deals.

[okie01]

I don't see this deal involving Frist or Reid at all.

It certainly didn't involve Frist.

But I would not be surprised if Reid wasn't pushing for it.

Consider what the Democrats got:

1. The freedom to conduct a filibuster against any and all judicial nominees, save three -- based on a promise by the GOP majority that they would not change the rules to silence said filibuster.

2. Avoidance of any political cost that would have been entailed in filibustering Owens and Brown -- a qualified female and female minority nominee.

And what did the Democrats give up?

1. Their power to filibuster three politically-charged nominees.

2. And the probable liklihood of a defeat on those three nominees, via a successful cloture vote.

In other words, the Democrats gave up what was already lost. And they preserved their "right to obstruct" and even enlisted seven GOP senators in defense of their now impregnable position.

Reid got everything he could hope to achieve. Frist got screwed -- along with the conservative GOP senators, all of us conservative voters and the entire country.