The biggest turning point and most exciting part of the day was Sen. Byrd's speech. Not only was it one of the best and 'fair' speeches so far (he critisized the dems for their harshness and character assasination, and he chastised the republicans for not asking tough questions during the commitee hearings) but it looked like he caught the Dem leadership off guard. Reid came out after and looked like he was crying in the backroom and wouldn't give Spector a straight answer.
Do you think Bryrd still writes his own speeches?
Why is Snowe not speaking tonight...anyone read anything into that?
She's geting lots of "against" calls from home, would be my guess. She is seriously weighing voting against the nomination, and wants more commitments from other Senators before she makes up her mind and announces anything.
It's good for her, makes her feel important. But in fact, her decision is, at this point, irrelevant. Both as to cloture and as to the nomination.