This really just shows the selfishness of Kerry. The democrat party will suffer as a result of this ill-fated attempt. But Kerry is willing to hurt his party if it improves his chances of capturing the '08 nomination. Hillary Clinton is the one that is in bad shape as a result of this attempt. She now has no choice but to support the filibuster or she loses the wackos she needs for the nomination. But supporting an Alito filibuster puts a serious hitch in her triangulation tactics of trying to sound "moderate".
I'm in agreement with what you say, for the most part; but if the hardcore freaks in their party really loom large in capturing the nomination, why didn't Dean win in '04? The far left loons were very unhappy with Kerry and wanted Dean, Clark or Kucinich. None of whom got very far in the primaries. Kerry won nearly all the primaries.
Hellary lost the whackos long ago, never had them, actually. She has decided to remake herself as a moderate, depending on the DLC and her heavy contribution money to get her the nomination.
This is going to be quite the fight, the Beast vs the Wuss, vs the Lockbox.