The Gang of 14 made an agreement whereby the seven Democrats would no longer vote along with their party on filibustering judicial nominees (except in "extreme circumstances," which some interpret to refer to nominees to the Supreme Court), and in turn the seven Republicans would break with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and the Republican leadership on voting for the "nuclear option."
Extreme circumstances - in other words, the seven Dems in the gang could bolt back to the party if they felt the nominee was too extreme.
And the Gang basically took power from Frist, Specter and Reid regarding nominations. They hold the cards now.
And the Gang basically took power from Frist, Specter and Reid regarding nominations. They hold the cards now.
Hate to break in on this late, but those 7 RINOs also had an "out"; if they determined that the "extraordinary circumstances" weren't extraordinary, they could break their pledge.
What's worse, since Roberts didn't draw the "extraordinary circumstances" line, why in the <expletive deleted> did President Bush feel it necessary to nominate someone more likely to be either a clone of O'Connor or Souter than one of Roberts (much less Scalia or Thomas)?