It's not at all looking good for a filibuster. First the 3 Dem Yes votes for Alito (Byrd, Johnson, Nelson), then a few more "defections" in statements by several other Dems that they would either not support a filibuster (Salazar), or vote for cloture outright (Landrieu).
And now it would appear that Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid has basically given up on the idea of a filibuster, successful or otherwise. Or so it seems given the following comments he made on the senate floor today:
He offered no support for Kennedy, John Kerry and others whose filibuster represents a last stand against Alito's confirmation.
"There's been adequate time for people to debate," Reid said.
Update: torridjoe just raised an interesting point in his semi-followup diary to this one (well, he cited it, at least),
Can't we Tell Them to Abstain on Cloture?, in which he suggested that Dems who said that they wouldn't support a filibuster might not necessarily vote FOR cloture. If we can get 41 or more Dems to either vote AGAINST cloture or at least not vote FOR it, we can still pull this off. Thanks, torridjoe!
Here's a more complete excerpt:
Senate GOP Seeks to Force Vote on Alito
By JESSE J. HOLLAND, Associated Press Writer
Thu Jan 26, 6:27 PM ET
WASHINGTON - Die-hard Democratic critics of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito threatened on Thursday to block a vote on his confirmation, and Republicans countered with a move designed to force his approval by early next week.
"It is time to establish an end point" in the debate over President Bush's selection to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (news, bio, voting record), D-Mass., said he and other Democrats had refused to agree to a timetable for ending debate. "There's some division in our caucus," he conceded.
Democratic Leader Harry Reid signaled as much in remarks on the Senate floor. He offered no support for Kennedy, John Kerry and others whose filibuster represents a last stand against Alito's confirmation.
"There's been adequate time for people to debate," Reid said.
I'm not sure what to make of this other than that it doesn't look good. Is he saying that a filibuster is not likely, let alone likely to succeed? Or is he also saying that he would not support a filibuster should one be attempted? It would certainly appear to be the latter, or else why would he otherwise say this publically?
I'm also wondering how wise this statement was, given that Kerry has just stepped up his call for a filibuster and that Kennedy has just joined him. Are we witnessing yet another sad and pointless public airing of the deep and yet to be mended divisions within the Democratic party, or was Reid simply not thinking?
Or could it be a canny bluff on his part, trying to put Republicans falsely at ease as the Dems try to mount a stealth filibuster, which would obviously will hit them between the eyes and come as a complete shock, and hopefully catch them off guard and embarrass them, and possibly even succeeding? Long shot, I realize, but one can always hope.
Any thoughts?