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That, and not enough of a margin. One GOP Senator is still dealing with heart surgery (McConnell), another lost his wife, and we had 51 Republicans total. We had third-party spoilers really kill us over the past three elections in Nevada (which is why Harry Reid is still in there), Washington state (which gave us Cantwell), and South Dakota (allowing Tim Johnson to sneak in). Plus, we blew the Louisiana runoff because some folks stayed home because their guy didn't win (giving Mary Landrieu a second term).

A bigger majority would have given Frist more options and room to fall back on when a Senator went down with illness or a family emergency. We don't have that room, and that was probably the big reason we got stuck with having to properly time the use of the nuclear option.

I expect Bush to give the order to go nuclear after the appropriations bills are signed. Too late for Estrada, but we might save a few others. And I don't think he will take any excuses from the country clubbers. There will be 51 votes when the nuke is popped in the Senate.

Estrada might have put up with GOP limpwristedness till now as he had cause to believe that a 60 seat GOP Senate was a possibility in 04. With the recent avalanche of GOP Senatorial candidates dropping out, he might have decided it was a fool's errand.

Hutch, as usual, is right. We did not, and do not, need 60 GOP senators to get our nominees through --- we need about 55-56 GOP senators after the next cycle to scare the reasonable RATS into going along for fear of their own future.

And for those who complain that Bush should have made more of this, perhaps, but you all know damned well that the RATS and the media were licking their chops to blame a filibuster on the GOP during a time of rising unemployment... they would have castigated the GOP of being insensitive to people losing their jobs and health care.

That is a sad but demonstrable reality.