With Frist and the Republicans poised to break Senate rules by declaring the filibuster unconstitutional, after repeatedly rebuffing Democratic attempts at compromise, Democrats need to be bold, RIGHT NOW!
I believe that not enough of the American public is familiar with the minutiae of Senate rules to understand that this is, pure and simple, the destruction of 200 year old Senate tradition and the contravention of the Senate's own rules. Therefore, we must call on Senator Reid to do the following immediately:
- Motion on the Senate floor to change Senate rules to disallow filibusters on judicial nominees (stay with me, here, there's a reason for this craziness!)
- Move towards a vote on said motion, which would require a 2/3 majority of senators.
- Defeat the proposed rule change on the Senate floor.
- Hit every press outlet in the nation with a release headlined: "Republicans lose vote on filibuster"
- Make sure we stress that "Democrats, wanting to force Republicans to muster the necessary 2/3 vote to change Senate rules, demonstrated that Republicans do not have the votes to enact said rule change."
- If the "nuclear option" is triggered with Cheney declaring it unconstitutional, THEN, we have the ammunition and the record to hammer them on how they had to BREAK THE RULES to get what they want.
These steps require boldness and a coordinated media strategy, but it is a necessary preemptive strike to highlight just how brazen a power play this is in every way.