The Gang of 14 fiasco seems to have really helped our side. The pubbie 7 said this was not "exceptional circumstances." The dim 7 had the choice of breaking up the group, returning to partisanship and likely incurring the nuclear option or vote for cloture and maintain the fiction of group unity. The public never bought that Alito is an extremist, so breaking the group didn't make any sense.
The moonbat base is going to be apoplectic, though.
I was absolutely livid when the Gang of 14 cut the GOP off at the knees over the appelate court judges, but I have to admit that so far, it has been overwhelmingly a plus for our side and a minus for the Dims. I still don't like the deal, I don't like having a bunch of "moderates" (roadkill) having that much power, but the deal hasn't been the disaster that so many on the right predicted it would be.