It looks like the Republicans are planning to go nuclear by taking away the minority right to filibuster judicial appointments.
I think we need a plan for what to do about this if it happens. I was hoping we could employ the same method used by the Texas dems in response to the Delay powergrab. But I just found that in the Senate, a quorum is just 51 senators, which obviously they can have without us.
But, can't the dems just leave the Capitol anyway if they go nuclear? I know this opens them up to attacks for not doing their "job" or whatnot. And I know the right to filibuster isn't exactly a well-known thing that's easy to go to the public with. But I don't know that we have much to lose.
(more)
Think about it: every single democratic senator returns to his or her state and barnstorms the state. Without us, Senate business halts, unless they take away the filibuster completely (which they haven't talked about yet). But even if they do completely take away the filibuster, and go ahead and do whatever business they want without us, we get credit for having balls, and for being absolutely unified in standing up to them. If we are absolutely unified, people will take us seriously. We can make sure the public understands that the Republicans have now made it clear they utterly refuse to work with us at all, they are drunk with power and have taken over the government.
Historically, polls have shown that people want a government where compromises must be made, not one where what one party says goes. Recent polls confirm that majorities want the democrats to stand up for their values, not to roll over for republicans who refuse to compromise. While it's hard for people to understand the filibuster, if the senate dems are unified behind this I think we tell the story so it makes sense to the public: "We just decided to go home, because they won't let us do our job. Being in Washington wasn't doing my constituents any good because they won't work with me."
Taking away the filibuster for judicial nominations is a line in the sand, it shows the republicans are willing to take away the filibuster alltogether. They are threatening to squash our voice completely, across the board. Being threatened with having our voice silenced completely, what good is it to debate them anymore? What good is it for our Senators to be at the Capitol? For the benefit of C-SPAN watchers?
What can we do besides go to the people and show, united, that we have done everything we can to stand up for our values, we have exercised all possible options. All options have been exhausted, and now the only thing we can do is go to the people and tell them what the republicans are doing, in the hopes the people will punish them.
The other obvious benefit here is that whatever the republicans do, obviously it will be bad no matter what. With social security or judges or everything, with us away from the capitol, the republicans will receive all the blame for all the bad things that get done.