[SpyGuy]

A lot of conservatives are (rightly) angry that the Republican senators and the Bush administration, didn't do enough to fight the Schumer-led *threat* of filibuster. They didn't even bother to call Schumer's bluff and make him and his co-conspirators actually filibuster.

I suspect that they (the Republicans) deliberately held-back and left poor Estrada twisting in the wind, with the intent of making political hay over this in the next election cycle.

Business as usual in Washington. Sad.

[Drammach]

Filibuster? What filibuster?

Does the author mean republicans doing "roll over & play dead" ?

That's not a filibuster..

[Arm_Bears]

"Democrats won a Pyrrhic victory . . ."

No, the Democrats won. Period.

[Fresh Wind]

Democrats won a Pyrrhic victory yesterday when the Bush Administration bowed to the inevitable and allowed judicial nominee Miguel Estrada to withdraw his name...

What? They "allowed" him to withdraw his nomination? Well, wasn't that nice of them. After Estrada got jerked around for so long, with no real support from the Republicans, and he finally got fed up and wanted his life back, they "allowed" him to withdraw? What a bunch of crap.

[Noachian]

The modern filibuster is only a virtual filibuster. In the old days, the filibusterer had to actually stand up and talk for hours on end,

Does anyone know WHY Frist is not calling for a 24/7 filibuster?

It seems both Frist and Bush are trying to avoid playing hardball with the Dems, and the Dems will only look upon GOP inaction as weakness, and continue their stalling tactics.

In an interesting side note, the liberal members of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary are quick to jump into action when a Conservative Judicial nominee for the bench is up for appointment, but this same Judiciary Committee that is responsible for oversight of the High Court stays silent when the High Court produces a ruling that drastically changes American society.

There has never been an investigation of Judicial activism of the Supreme Court by either the House or Senate committees on the Judiciary, but the Senate can quickly gathers 45 Senators to stop a Conservative appointment.

There's a double standard at work in both the House and Senate Committees on the Judiciary that the people should be made aware of.

[boris]

My advice to the Pres (as if he'd take it): each time they "Bork" or force a nominee out, find one even more "objectionable" to them and nominate him. Just keep doing this until they either give up...or can be pilloried for stopping virtually every judicial nominee.

In short: escalate, baby, escalate.

--Boris

[SpinyNorman]

Perhaps someone should ask MEChA candidate for California governor, Bustamente, exactly what he thinks of the liberal bashing of an overqualified Hispanic candidate.

[montag813]

Republicans are trying to figure out how to gain political points in the Hispanic community by making Democrats look like bigots because of their shabby treatment of Estrada. They can be successful in this, but only if they are willing to go hard at the issue, with first person Spanish language advertising featuring Estrada himself.

The time for that advertising and hardball tactics has come and gone. This was an abject defeat with strong repurcussions. Bush's power in Washington is now significantly diminished. And at onyl 41, Estrada has a family to support, and cannot afford to spend time in ads which would only turn off potential clients for Baker Botts, his firm.

For the record, my company SUBMITTED SPANISH-LANGUAGE ADS TO THE GOP LEADERSHIP, on many different levels. They were strong stuff, but not out of bounds of offensive to viewers. They highlighted Estrada's bio and Democrat racism for opposing him. ALL ADS WERE REJECTED. The despicable "New Tone" was the off-the-record reason given. Apparently the White House put a squelch on any real battle on behalf of Estrada. I am still stunned by this arrogant stupidity on the part of Karl Rove. After media consulting 4 successful GOP Sentorial candidates last cycle, I am seriously considering sitting out 2004.

[TBP]

The President should appoint someone the Dimmycraps will like even less than Estrada and the jellyfish Republican Senators should make them conduct a REAL filibuster.

Then he should nominate Estrada for the first Supreme Court opening.

Meanwhile, the Republicans are going to have to tell the truth about the bigotry of their Democrat colleagues.

Does anyone have a link to the Wall Street Journal piece on Estrada yesterday?

[votelife]

bump for a future Supreme Court nominee.