GOP still confident they have the votes...

Yesterday on CBS's "Face The Nation", Majority Whip Sen. Mitch McConnell expressed confidence that the Republicans have the necessary votes to enact judicial filibuster reform.

The big question is when. Sen. Frist continues to drag his feet on this matter - perhaps hoping it will go away?

Anyway, assuming they move forward with it, the best indicator that they have the votes in the bag is the whining of Democrats:

Sen. Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat appearing with McConnell, said conservative Republicans including former Senate leader Bob Dole "have urged the Republican leadership today to think long and hard about doing what they want to do."

and

[Sen. Joseph] Biden, appearing on ABC's "This Week," said, "I think we should compromise and say to them that we're willing to -- of the seven judges -- we'll let a number of them go through, the two most extreme not go through and put off this vote" to end the filibuster.

When Democrats are in "let's talk" mode, you know that they know their cause is lost.

UPDATE: 7:05am

Captain Ed has more on the Dem reaction:

Biden may not be the brightest member of the Democratic caucus, but he's wiser than Reid. He understands that if the Republicans have two choices -- no opportunity for their nominees to get votes for two years or a few weeks of bad press -- even Bill Frist will eventually pick Door Number Two. The only way out will be a compromise, which allows the Democrats to look magnanimous and still hold the filibuster as a trump card.

Needless to say, Frist would be an idiot to bite at this. For one thing, agreeing to such an arrangement amounts to a validation of both the unprecedented use of the filibuster and the notion that the judicial nominees are "extremists". It also solves nothing -- it just postpones the fight until a Supreme Court seat opens up. The compromise amounts to nothing except a tactical retreat for Democrats to avoid a huge loss. If Frist accepts such an offer, it will signal that he has no intention of providing leadership to the Republican contingent.

Posted by: Gary at 06:43 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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