The Great Filibuster Debate

To filibuster Alito or not is the question of the day. It's obviously drawing some serious attention on the left. My barometer for this is that one of my old friends, who sits firmly in the left wing of the left, emailed me this morning asking me to call my Senators to demand a filibuster.

It was a mass mailing, so to speak, so I'll forgive him for not recognizing that both of my Senators, Durbin and Obama, have already signed onto the filibuster bandwagon. My own feelings on the topic are mixed.

I think my biggest problem is John Kerry. He jumped into the fray from his perch in Davos at the World Economic Summit in the eleventh hour to demand the filibuster. It was so clearly a crass political move that it diminished the concept of the filibuster entirely. Like Bush flying back to Washington D.C. from Crawford for Terry Schiavo, there was no principle in the move.

If Russ Feingold (who is a believer in Presidential choice on these matters regardless of party and is voting no for the first time) had started the rally to this I would accept it as a matter of principle and do my part for the cause. I don't want Alito confirmed anymore than my friend from the left coast, but this filibuster is likely doomed from the start, and from a political perspective it's a big loser.

The far left will support it (and in theory I do as well), but everyone to the right of them will see Kerry's move for what it is: pandering to the base for 2008. It will further the notion (somewhat deserved and slightly overblown) of Democrats as the party with no principles and no ideas.

Just what we need.