This fight will do nothing but give the democrats painful tummy aches for MONTHS to come, and when DeLay is proved innocent and restored to the Majority Leader of the House, they'll be in even bigger trouble. The joy at getting another Scalia / Thomas on the SC, and the retribution to come from the liberal attempt to criminalize conservatism by trying to politically assassinate DeLay, will serve to give them a HUGE defeat in '06 I predict. In the coming months conservatives will be energized, and libs will be frantic frothing radical fringe wackos heading to next November, just like they've been for the past six years.
All true, but the biggest tummy ache in Washington today belongs to Lincoln Chaffee. He is caught between a rock and a hard place. The good news is that he cant politically vote against Alito, but he cant vote for him either. He loses, no matter what. He will lose his reelection to either a Republican or Democrat, but he will lose either way because of this vote he must take.