Given that Lindsey Graham and Mike DeWine have said that they would not support a filibuster against Alito and would support a rules change if necessary, the GOP would seem to be holding all the cards. Which would seem to leave the Democrats with little alternative but to engage in an all out verbal assault on Alito and then go down swinging – just short of a fight over the rules. In other words, make noise to satisfy the base, but don’t give the Republicans the opportunity to deep six the judicial filibuster.
Columnists Michael Barone raised an interesting point recently, noting that no northern Democrat wants to vote against an Italian American for the high court, given the Italian populations of those states. Such inclinations though are probably not as strong as in the past and probably overshadowed by the rabid nature of the party base, not to mention the ideological changes that Alito would bring to the court.
This does beg the question though of how far they are willing to go for appearances sake in their opposition. Do they oppose the filibuster, but vote no on the nomination? Or do they go the whole nine yards? The there’s the red-state Democrats in the Senate who voted for Roberts, do they oppose Alito? Do they support a filibuster? Nebraska’s Ben Nelson and North Dakota’s Conrad face the voters next year in states carried heavily by Bush.
At the end of the day, the GOP has the votes, but what happens between now and then? Sure, the Democrats could tie the Senate up in knots, but the political consequences would be high. Their 2006 election strategy revolves around the war, supposed GOP corruption and accusing the Republican leadership of being “do nothings”. Their intransigence would risk overshadowing the issues they wish to highlight.
Baring any meltdown by Alito during the hearings, it would seem that such considerations will complicate the already tight arithmetic of attempting to obstruct the nomination and in the end we’re likely to witness a lot of noise but no serious opposition. Just sound and fury.
Article comments