Poor Harry, stuck with only a majority in the Senate, he just can't get those mean Republicans to let him do anything. If it weren't for the filibuster, maybe something could be done, but hey, give him 60 democrats and maybe he'll think about trying to really get something done.
"Wait a minute though," you say, "isn't there something he could do about the filibuster?"
I'm so glad you asked...
Harry needs to talk them hoarse. The cloture vote is a formality designed to let lazy Senators filibuster without actually, you know, earning their paycheck by doing all that inconvienent talking stuff. This means the fillibuster gets used a lot more often than it would.
Lets face it, one of the defining traits of the Republicans in congress is that they are fundamentally lazy, shiftless, and wouldn't raise their finger without an illegal manservant there to help carry the load. The 109th congress proved that.
So, what Harry needs to do is call their bluff. Instead of the nuclear option and the removal of filibusters, we need the Huff-and-puff-and-blow-the-house-down option. If the Republicans don't want to vote on something, keep the Senate in session every day, 12 hours a day, even on weekends, with no breaks until they finally shut the hell up.
Now, I know that Harry and Nancy have decided that the best strategy is to just paint the Republicans as obstructionists, but maybe the Bushworld level poll numbers will help break them of that bad habbit.
Harry, if you want to be the leader, you need to toughen up. The Republicans play hard ball, and they play to win. If you can't do the same, you're going to have to step aside and let someone with a spine take over.