There was only one way for the Democrats to lose on the "nuclear option" fight. Incredibly, they found it.
The Democratic Party wins if we would have succeeded in maintaining the filibuster. There would have been a continuing check on the nominees that Bush could present and his very worst nominees would have been on hold.
We also would have won if the nuclear option was excercised successfully, ending the filibuster. This would have been a win in several ways. In '08 we will win the White House and the Senate. Without a filibuster, we will be able to place any nominee we want to on the bench for the next 8 years. Furthermore, the stage would have been set for us to eliminate the filibuster altogether at a time when a progressive president and Democratic Congress will be trying to pass important health care and other legislation. Finally, if we lost the nuclear option vote, we could have slowed the Senate down to a crawl, stalling the theocon domestic agenda and increasing the public anger directed at Congress.
Instead, we have the worst possible result. We accepted the 3 worst nominees, the ones that most clearly present the most "extraordinary" circumstances to filibuster. Furthermore, there will be nothing to prevent Bush from continuing to nominate the worst possible individuals for judicial seats. ANYONE WHO THINKS BUSH IS GOING TO BACK OFF AFTER THIS HAS LEARNED NOTHING AFTER 4.5 YEARS OF HOW THESSE GUYS OPERATE. THEY WILL DELIBERATELY NOMINATE HORRIBLE CANDIDATES JUST TO PUT THE SQUEEZE ON US AGAIN. Suppose Bush nominates another racist like Pryor, and some Dems threaten to filibuster. Then we are no better off then before as Frist will then move for the nuclaar option. And when we argue that there are "extraordinary circumstances" the Republicans will just point to the 3 that we have already let through and say that the new nominee is not any different then the ones we did not filibuster.
Here is the final kicker for me. There is no doubt in my mind that when we obtain the White House and the Congress in 08, the theocons will filibuster our nominees. And they will be much more agressive in doing so then we ever were. So, in the end, the filibuster remains as a tool of future use for the Republicans while it is being denied our use. LITERALLY, THE WORST POSSIBLE RESULT.