The Daily Background

Josh Marshall is reporting that a U.S. Senator has brought up the possibility of filibustering Samuel Alito. So who is this left-wing radical - Barbara Boxer? Nope. Is it Ted Kennedy? No way. It’s Joe Lieberman. The social traditionalist, Bush foreign policy ally, and general bane of progressive Democrats’ existence. But, perhaps more importantly, he’s a member of the Gang of 14, the 14 Senators who unilaterally resolved the filibuster standoff last March. If one of the Gang of 14 is contemplating filibuster, that’s significant, because if three of seven Democrats in the Gang decide to filibuster, and the rest of the Democratic caucus follows suit, we’ll have the 41 votes needed to sustain the filibuster. Does this risk backfiring, and bringing the nuclear option back to the forefront? Of course. But Lieberman gives this an air of legitimacy that it wouldn’t have if, say, Dan Inouye decided to bolt. Lieberman could well drive comrades-in-centrism such as Mary Landrieu and Ken Salazar to join the fight, and their nonpartisan reputations could bolster the cause significantly. And, perhaps most importantly, Lieberman could turn public opinion against Alito. While the public would overwhelmingly oppose Alito if he opposed Roe v. Wade, 49% still support him, despite overwhelming evidence that he hates the ruling. If a publicly respected figure like Lieberman comes to the conclusion that Alito’s anti-choice, the public could follow suit, killing the nomination. It would be the first double rejection since Richard Nixon nominated racists Clement Haynsworth and Harold Carswell to the court. And considering that after those two he nominated Harry Blackmun, the moderate author of the Roe decision, we might just get a keeper.

Filed under: Lieberman Related, Z-TDB Blog