With Alito as the nominee, it looks like the filibuster showdown may well come to a head. If the Democrats exercise their right to filibuster, you can expect a lot of moaning and complaining from the right about how the Democrats are being "undemocratic", or "blocking the will of the majority." But who has the REAL majority in the Senate? Not the GOP. The Republicans may control more seats in the Senate, but it turns out that it is the Democrats that represent the majority of American citizens. Statistics on the flip.
I did a breakdown of how many people each senator actually represents, using the "QuickFacts" feature of
http://www.census.gov. I assigned each senator 50 percent of their state's population, then added up the numbers by party (counting Jeffords under the Democratic side). When I added them up, I discovered that the Democrats represent 148,336,724 Americans, while Republicans represent 144,765,157. So if anyone accuses the Democrats of being "undemocratic" by filibustering Alito's nomination, just ask them "How is it possible to be undemocratic, when the will of the majority of citizens is being represented?"
| Democrats | | |
| Lincoln | AR | 1,376,314.5 |
| Pryor | AR | 1,376,314.5 |
| Boxer | CA | 17,946,899.5 |
| Feinstein | CA | 17,946,899.5 |
| Salazar | CO | 2,300,701.5 |
| Dodd | CT | 1,751,802.0 |
| Lieberman | CT | 1,751,802.0 |
| Biden | DE | 415,182.0 |
| Carper | DE | 415,182.0 |
| Nelson | FL | 8,698,580.5 |
| Akaka | HI | 631,420.0 |
| Inouye | HI | 631,420.0 |
| Harkin | IA | 1,477,225.5 |
| Durbin | IL | 6,356,817.0 |
| Obama | IL | 6,356,817.0 |
| Bayh | IN | 3,118,784.5 |
| Landrieu | LA | 2,257,885.0 |
| Kennedy | MA | 3,208,252.5 |
| Kerry | MA | 3,208,252.5 |
| Mikulski | MD | 2,779,029.0 |
| Sarbanes | MD | 2,779,029.0 |
| Levin | MI | 5,056,310.0 |
| Stabenow | MI | 5,056,310.0 |
| Dayton | MN | 2,550,479.0 |
| Baucus | MT | 463,432.5 |
| Conrad | ND | 317,183.0 |
| Dorgan | ND | 317,183.0 |
| Nelson | NE | 873,607.0 |
| Corzine | NJ | 4,349,439.5 |
| Laudenberg | NJ | 4,349,439.5 |
| Bingaman | NM | 951,644.5 |
| Reid | NV | 1,167,385.5 |
| Schumer | NY | 9,613,544.0 |
| Clinton | NY | 9,613,544.0 |
| Wyden | OR | 1,797,293.0 |
| Reed | RI | 540,316.0 |
| Johnson | SD | 385,441.5 |
| Jeffords | VT | 310,697.0 |
| Leahy | VT | 310,697.0 |
| Cantwell | WA | 3,101,894.0 |
| Murray | WA | 3,101,894.0 |
| Feingold | WI | 2,754,513.0 |
| Kohl | WI | 2,754,513.0 |
| Byrd | WV | 907,677.0 |
| Rockefeller | WV | 907,677.0 |
| | Total: | 148,336,724 |
| GOP | | |
| Murkowski | AK | 327,717.5 |
| Stevens | AK | 327,717.5 |
| Sessions | AL | 2,265,091.0 |
| Shelby | AL | 2,265,091.0 |
| Kyl | AZ | 2,871,917.0 |
| McCain | AZ | 2,871,917.0 |
| Allard | CO | 2,300,701.5 |
| Martinez | FL | 8,698,580.5 |
| Chambliss | GA | 4,414,691.5 |
| Isakson | GA | 4,414,691.5 |
| Grassley | IA | 1,477,225.5 |
| Craig | ID | 696,631.0 |
| Crapo | ID | 696,631.0 |
| Lugar | IN | 3,118,784.5 |
| Brownback | KS | 1,367,751.0 |
| Roberts | KS | 1,367,751.0 |
| Bunning | KY | 2,072,961.0 |
| McConnell | KY | 2,072,961.0 |
| Vitter | LA | 2,257,885.0 |
| Collins | ME | 658,626.5 |
| Snowe | ME | 658,626.5 |
| Coleman | MN | 2,550,479.0 |
| Bond | MO | 2,877,309.0 |
| Talent | MO | 2,877,309.0 |
| Cochran | MS | 1,451,483.0 |
| Lott | MS | 1,451,483.0 |
| Burns | MT | 463,432.5 |
| Burr | NC | 4,270,610.5 |
| Dole | NC | 4,270,610.5 |
| Hagel | NE | 873,607.0 |
| Gregg | NH | 649,750.0 |
| Sununu | NH | 649,750.0 |
| Domenici | NM | 951,644.5 |
| Ensign | NV | 1,167,385.5 |
| DeWine | OH | 5,729,505.5 |
| Voinovich | OH | 5,729,505.5 |
| Coburn | OK | 1,761,776.5 |
| Inhofe | OK | 1,761,776.5 |
| Smith | OR | 1,797,293.0 |
| Santorum | PA | 6,203,146.0 |
| Specter | PA | 6,203,146.0 |
| Chafee | RI | 540,316.0 |
| DeMint | SC | 2,099,034.0 |
| Graham | SC | 2,099,034.0 |
| Thune | SD | 385,441.5 |
| Alexander | TN | 2,950,481.0 |
| Frist | TN | 2,950,481.0 |
| Cornyn | TX | 11,245,011.0 |
| Hutchison | TX | 11,245,011.0 |
| Bennett | UT | 1,194,519.5 |
| Hatch | UT | 1,194,519.5 |
| Allen | VA | 3,729,913.5 |
| Warner | VA | 3,729,913.5 |
| Enzi | WY | 253,264.5 |
| Thomas | WY | 253,264.5 |
| | Total: | 144,765,157 |
