[newnhdad]

Hatch up..

[joebuck]

Hatch is always good when he decides to grow a pair, which he usually does on Supreme Court nominations.

[southernnorthcarolina]

Several FReepers have asked whether Senator Ensign could vote by proxy on the cloture motion. As I understand Senate rules, the answer is NO.

There is the old Senatorial courtesy known as the pairing of votes. It is possible that vote pairing could come into play on the actual vote to confirm Judge Alito, should Senator Ensign be unable to get to the Senate floor. Senator Ensign, an Alito supporter, could contact an Alito opponent with whom he (Ensign) is on good terms. That Senator would abstain, and have his vote listed as "Paired Against," while Ensign would be listed as "Paired For."

This doesn't work, however, on a cloture vote. Sixty votes (not just 60% of those attending) are needed to shut off debate. So an abstention is functionally the same as a vote against shutting off debate. Therefore, there's nothing to "pair."