Because all of us are interested in the probability of a filibuster on the nomination of Samuel (SC)Alito, I thought I should calculate the rate at which each Senate Democrat and moderate Republican votes against George W. Bush's judicial nominees. Below I glean all roll call and cloture votes on Bush's nominees in which at least one Senator voted "NAY." Dividing the number of times each Senator "NAY" by the total number of times at least one Senator voted "NAY," I managed to obtain a rate that allowed me to seperate Senate Democrats and moderate and maverick Republicans into seven classes. Note also I had to adjust my divisions depending on when a particular Senator was elected to the Senate. Only one Senator qualified for class number 1, and you will discover who this is below. I guess you can consider this one Senator the guardian of our judiciary. View the votes and the results in the extended body.
My calculations are based on the following roll call and cloture votes:
107th Congress - Session 1 (2001)
PN402
107th Congress - Session 2 (2002)
PN912
PN889Cloture
PN894Cloture
PN1005
PN888
108th Congress - Session 1 (2003)
PN6Cloture
PN6Cloture
PN4
PN6Cloture
PN16
PN6Cloture
PN15
PN11Cloture
PN5
PN6Cloture
PN6Cloture
PN11Cloture
PN394
PN38
PN11Cloture
PN6Cloture
PN512Cloture
PN12Cloture
PN512Cloture
PN11Cloture
PN8Cloture
PN839Cloture
108th Congress - Second Session (2004)
PN975
PN571
PN1109
PN279
PN658Cloture
PN14Cloture
PN7Cloture
PN9Cloture
PN1628
PN1855
109th Congress - First Session (2005)
PN194Cloture
PN194
PN201Cloture
PN201
PN200Cloture
PN200
PN202
PN801
CLASS I
92.1% Frank LAUTENBERG (D-NJ)
CLASS II
84.8% Hillary CLINTON (D-NY)
Jon CORZINE (D-NJ)
Tom HARKIN (D-IA)
Jack REED (D-RI)
Debbie STABENOW (D-MI)
82.6% Barbara BOXER (D-CA)
Mark DAYTON (D-MN)
80.4% Dick DURBIN (D-IL)
Carl LEVIN (D-MI)
Paul SARBANES (D-MD)
Ron WYDEN (D-OR)
CLASS III
78.3% Daniel AKAKA (D-HI)
Russ FEINGOLD (D-WI)
Ted KENNEDY (D-MA)
Patrick LEAHY (D-VT)
76.1% Barbara MIKULSKI (D-MD)
75% Barack OBAMA (D-IL)
73.9% Christopher DODD (D-CT)
Harry REID (D-NV)
71.7% Maria CANTWELL (D-WA)
Tim JOHNSON (D-SD)
Patty MURRAY (D-WA)
John ROCKEFELLER (D-WV)
Chuck SCHUMER (D-NY)
CLASS IV
69.6% Max BAUCUS (D-MT)
Jeff BINGAMAN (D-NM)
Dianne FEINSTEIN (D-CA)
67.4% Evan BAYH (D-IN)
Byron DORGAN (D-ND)
65.8% Mark PRYOR (D-AR)
65.2% Joseph BIDEN (D-DE)
Robert BYRD (D-WV)
Kent CONRAD (D-ND)
63.0% Jim JEFFORDS (I-VT)
Herb KOHL (D-WI)
60.9% Daniel INOUYE (D-HI)
CLASS V
58.7% Thomas CARPER (D-DE)
Mary LANDRIEU (D-LA)
52.2% Blanche LINCOLN (D-AR)
CLASS VI
43.5% Bill NELSON (D-FL)
37.5% Ken SALAZAR (D-CO)
CLASS VII
6.5% Lincoln CHAFEE (R-RI)
Ben NELSON (D-NE)
4.3% Susan COLLINS (R-ME)
Olympia SNOWE (R-ME)
2.2% Kay Bailey HUTCHISON (R-TX)
Trent LOTT (R-MS)
John McCAIN (R-AZ)
John WARNER (R-VA)
UNABLE TO BE RANKED DUE TO PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDACY
45.7% Joe LIEBERMAN
32.6% John KERRY
The guardian of our judiciary is:
Frank LAUTENBERG (D-NJ)