Red State Democrats are the key in this fight, if there is to be one.
The Democrats don't want a fight over the Supreme Court. The reason for all this bloviating and bullying and filibustering of lower court nominees was to bully Bush into NOT sending up a clear, determined, constitutionalist nominee. Few people pay attention to lower court nominations, though even on those obscure nominations their filibustering got them into some trouble, as Daschle learned on election night.
A fight over a constitutionalist Supreme Court nominee would result in the public siding with the nominee. The Democrats know this. Can anyone seriously imagine the public siding with the likes of Kennedy, Schumer, Durbin, and Biden if they viciously smeared Janice Rogers Brown? Heaven couldn't deliver more ignorant and unattractive foes for us than the Democrats on the judiciary committee.
If the Democrats filibuster, they'll soon be flooded with phone calls and e-mails running five-to-one against them. That might not matter to Teddy or Chucky, but to a Democrat Senator from Florida, Louisiana, the Dakotas, Nebraska, or Arkansas, it's a different matter entirely.
The 'Rats don't want this fight. We should. Of course, our victory would be contingent upon our side actually fighting back. We did so with Thomas. We didn't with Bork.
I'd love to get Bayh outta here!
Absolutely True.
We have had the edge in this fight all along, if we were willing to use it. We were guarenteed some 40 Republicans votes. There are enough red state Dems to run the vote tally up for re-election next year. Not only them, but Dems in states such as Wisconsin that are close in elections. Forget the RINO's. We have more posible DINO's if proper pressure from the people is exacted.
How many Red State $inators are up for re election in 2006?
Pressure on them may be the way to get a conservative justice approved by this Senate.