Breaking up is so hard to do. But we may be just beginning to see the first cracks. In particular we may be seeing from "antebellum" south senators who seem to be having second thoughts about using the "nuke option"?
This in from the Mississippi Clarion-Ledger: Mississippi's Republican senators Trent Lott and Thad Cochran's thoughts about breaking the rules to change the rules on the long-held tradition of filibusters in the U.S. Senate. In a sudden moment of clear and radiant memory, Lott now admits Republicans used the filibuster to stall at least one Clinton nominee.
One? Tickle, tickle, Mr. Lott, that's funny. Now let's be honest, Trent: How about sixty nominees? Yes, sixty!
But that doesn't bother Trent Lott, of course, who flips back into a state of amnesia as easily as he recalls the good ol' days of segregation. He believes that the current situation is still very different--"I couldn't agree to a deal where you allow four (nominees) a vote and you set three aside."
Yet, and ironically enough, Lott doesn't think Frist has the 50 GOP Senators on board yet that are needed to succeed in breaking the rules. Could it be that our ol' boy from the Antebellum South is recalling, with painful freshness, the Frist's coup in 2002 when Lott was shamed out of being Majority Leader because of his sweet memories during the late Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday.
On the other hand, Cochran is worried about something totally different. He believes that the "nuke option" could threaten passage of spending bills (Cochran is chair of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee). Imagine that.
Maybe these Mississippi boys are smart enough cookies. Are they cautioning, in so many words, their Republican colleagues? Or are they undermining a Southern upstart Frist who is too ambitious?
What do you think? Are the Republicans starting to break apart?
[Update] 10:30 a.m.: See other breaks in the party machine Frist is counting on~Warner's Doubts.