Good morning....and be of good cheer...I'll be posting a "Report from Chappaqua" later this morning...a good night's sleep has given me a new perpsective...Last night's deal is brilliant, a political masterstroke..for us..and the implications across the political landscape are staggering..
Of course the Democrats giving up the filibuster is good for us. All the people who can't see that now will see it soon. But most of them will feel like we should have crushed the Dems like bugs. Since we didn't they will always feel cheated out of a chance to humliate the opposition. But this was without a doubt a strategic retreat by the Dems when they realized that they were going to lose the nuclear vote today. So they did the best they could.
Yes, a good deal...if the GOP gets out front on the public relations angle.
This deal was only possible because 7 Dem senators had to admit their party has abused their "minority rights" by invoking the filibuster against Bush's judges. That's what the compromise boils down to.
This was only a battle in a war that's been raging for a long time. The Dems' strongest weapon in recent years has been SPIN (given the media's complicity with their obstructionism). Last night they surrendered that weapon. Without going into all the details, it's going to be virtually impossible for Reid to tag future nominees as "extraordinary" (extreme). Also, keep in mind that the media and the dems have been trying to convince us that the public supported the dems' filibustering. But, if that were true, they would never have caved. They realized, once the nuke vote was taken and the public witnessed up/down votes taking place, the public would swing and say "Oh, that seems fair".
As for Frist, his backbone made this deal possible. Without his steely determination, the Dems would never have come to the table. Frist had the votes, Reid didn't. Believing Frist would pull the trigger, the dems capitulated rather than face defeat.
Though I despise having to put up with media adulation of McCain, I think public attitudes will favor the GOP after they see votes take place on Bush's nominees. After that, it will be extremely difficult for the dems to gin up this battle again.
Oh good (sigh of relief) ....we sorely need the Chappaqua perspective right about now.
please ping me to your epiphany then, I could use some good perspective. Looks pretty bleak from where I sit, I can't even bring myself to turn tv news on and hear the gloating in the reporters voices and the RAT interviews.
Please ping me to your analysis. Thanks.
I hope you can ping me when you do. I can use all of the cheering up that I can get right now.