Moments before Monday's vote on whether to filibuster the nomination of Samuel Alito, John Kerry was speaking to a near-empty Senate chamber. In his typical stentorian fashion, Kerry was arguing for a filibuster of the Supreme Court nominee, an effort the Massachusetts senator had single-handedly initiated a few days earlier to the open chagrin of fellow Democrats like Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid. "What could possibly be more important than this?" asked Kerry, who stood alone amid a sea of empty desks. But Kerry's plea for relevancy didn't cause much of a stir until his Massachusetts colleague and filibuster partner,...