CNN: Anti-Alito filibuster soundly defeated ~ campaign .. ...fizzled Monday evening.

CNN ^ | Monday, January 30, 2006; Posted: 7:56 p.m. EST (00:56 GMT) | staff

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Final confirmation of Supreme Court nominee expected Tuesday

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Judge Samuel Alito stands just one step away from a lifetime appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court after a spirited ninth-inning campaign by some Democratic senators to block his nomination fizzled Monday evening.

The final vote on Alito's nomination is now scheduled for Tuesday morning, and, with at least 57 senators on board, approval is virtually assured.

Alito's supporters in the Senate, as expected, cleared the final roadblock Monday when senators, by a vote of 72-25, decided to cut off debate and proceed to a final vote, rebuffing an attempt by a cadre of liberal senators to talk the nomination to death.

The vote easily exceeded the 60 votes needed to pass the motion. ()

In the end, only 24 of the chamber's 44 Democrats went along with the filibuster, a maneuver allowed under Senate rules to block a vote by extending debate indefinitely. It was also supported by the chamber's lone independent, Sen. Jim Jeffords of Vermont.

Arguing against cutting off debate, Sen. John Kerry -- who spearheaded the filibuster effort with his fellow Massachusetts Democrat, Sen. Ted Kennedy -- said Alito's record during his 15 years on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has given "the extreme right wing unbelievable public cause for celebration."

"That just about tells you what you need to know," Kerry said. "The vote today is whether or not we will take a stand against ideological court-packing."

But Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said the move to cut off debate fulfilled a "very straightforward principle -- a nominee with the support of a majority of senators deserves a fair up-or-down vote."

"The sword of the filibuster has been sheathed because we are placing principle before politics, and results before rhetoric," Frist said.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Lovely PHOTO"S!!!!!!

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

HAHAHAHA - love it!!! Gonna send that one to a friend of mine.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Maybe they have joined up with Hamas!

[Mr. Brightside]

after a spirited ninth-inning campaign by some Democratic senators

If the MSM was writing about a Republican filibuster attempt, I doubt they would they use the word "spirited."

More like.... "a desperate attempt that was doomed from the beginning... a vicious reaction from the party's right wing..."

[elli1]

I, for one, would like to congratulate Senator Kerry for single-handedly devising the plan to make what would have been a decent victory for President Bush with the confirmation of Judge Alito into a HUGE win for the President!!!!!

Yup...phoning in a filibuster from a resort in Switzerland was a brilliant political move, johnnie.

[conservative physics]

LOL !

maybe it's because YOUR THE MINORITY IN THIS COUNTRY !

ROFL!


Some of them still believed... until today that they are the majority... reality just hit them across the face.

[F16Fighter]

Arguing against cutting off debate, Sen. John (Also-Ran) Kerry -- who spearheaded the filibuster effort with his fellow Massachusetts DemocRAT, Sen. Ted (Swimmer) Kennedy -- said, "Blah, blah, blah..."

Such statesmenship.

[publana]

I've been in DUmmieland for the past few hours and what is even more amazing, they STILL think they are the majority!

What a hoot! This has been one fun evening.

[YaYa123]

"The motion to cut off debate drew the support of 53 Republicans.."

Help me out here. We have 55 republican senators, right? Chaffee voted "no". Which other republican voted with him?

[F16Fighter]

"Well, not all the news is bad for John Kerry. Helen has decided to wave her normal $20.00 fee for her services."

That 20 bucks wouldn't nearly cover the maintainance-man fee after overfilling the barf-bag and then sawdust to help clean up the mess.

[adorno]

Yup...phoning in a filibuster from a resort in Switzerland was a brilliant political move, johnnie.

It's the same way he fought in Vietnam. He crossed into Cambodia in his boat while still in Vietnamese waters.

[HitmanLV]

I think John Ensign (R-NV) missed the vote. He was injured in a minor auto accident and couldn't make it.

[denydenydeny]

Yaya, I think John Ensign (R-NV) was in a minor auto accident and was not present.

[p23185]

WHY do we keep losing????????????????? WHY? If we're better people, and have better ideas, and are better for the world--WHY DO WE KEEP LOSING?

Huh - you don't have any ideas other than to obstruct!!

[MediaAnalyst]

"My goodness, that cloture vote was pathetic to all the filibuster packing RATS. It shows how effective it is to be mustering a filibuster from a Swiss ski resort."

No, don't be fooled. The Dems came a lot closer than they or the MSM is letting on. If the filibuster vote was going to be a slam-dunk, with such a decisive majority, why didn't the vote tallies over the weekend show it? Instead, the Dems counted and came up just short, probably no higher than 61 cloture votes (especially with Senator Ensign [sp.] in a hospital recovering from an "accidental" car crash).

But rather than come close and give the loonies just a few Democratic Senators to viciously attack (the 6 or so that were committed to cloture), they let the vote go as it did - and it made it much harder for the loonies to attack their targets. This also allowed the Dems to have the MSM portray the vote as symbolic, as in this quote from the Washington Post: "...a symbolic filibuster attempt", to help with post-vote damage control.

If shutting down a filibuster was so easy, there would be a lot more appellate judges right now.

[petercooper]

[Cicero]

I believe there was a pairing.

[Theresawithanh]

The posts on page one there were a real hoot, Skinner, who I guess runs DU, going out for a beer, and the guy with the post below his about how "we really won today"! Almost made me choke on my celebratory adult beverage, for sue.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Chicken Liver Hagel didn't vote...maybe he was in Davos...?

[hunter112]

I've been in DUmmieland for the past few hours and what is even more amazing, they STILL think they are the majority!

When your head is up your hiney, all you see is...well, you know what.

They really need to get outside the reach of a city bus line, and meet some people in flyover country to know how out of touch they are with the real majority.