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I think it's definitely something to keep in mind. It's quite possible that reid has checked with the not-liberal wing of the democrat party, mainly the 11 democrat Senators that are in strong red States that Bush carried last year, and found that few if any of them were willing to vote against Alito. I imagine that the no b.s. version of the conversations was something like this:

Reid: "Democrat Senator from a strong red State", I want you to vote against Alito when he comes to the floor for a vote'

Democrat Senator from a strong red State: Senator Reid, what? Do you even know what State I'm from? Sorry. Not gonna happen. Go talk to specter, chaffe, snowe, or collins.

And since there are 11 of them, that would easily make it impossible for the dems to come close to defeating Alito, which would be embarrassing since the lib dems already threw the gauntlet down against Alito yesterday, the first few hours after the nomination. I think your idea might just be it. I'm going to have to file that in my head and remember that. 8)