Sen. Joseph Biden predicts Supreme Court nominee Judge Samuel Alito will get an up and down vote:
A key Democrat said on Sunday that he expects the full Republican-led Senate to vote on U.S. Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito without the threat of a Democratic filibuster.
But Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware said a decision would not be made about such a possible procedural roadblock until more lawmakers meet with President George W. Bush’s conservative nominee to the nation’s highest court.
“My instinct is we should commit” to an up-or-down vote by the full Senate, said Biden, a member of the Judiciary Committee. “I think the probability is that will happen.
“I think that judgment won’t be made … until the bulk of us have had a chance to actually see him and speak to him,” Biden told ABC’s “This Week.”
Biden is probably correct. A filibuster would probably only trigger the “nuclear option” unless it’s a person who is truly a highly polarizing figure. So far Alito hasn’t proven to be that. In fact, news reports of Senators meeting with him find that many of them are impressed.
A filibuster is sort of like a silver bullet: you can use it…perhaps more than once…but its use had better be warranted. It must have wider support than just a percentage (even a large percentage) of Democrats. Also: you get into what Hollywoood calls “high concept”: the idea that at the mention of someone’s name people get a feeling. For instance, by the time she withdrew the name “Harriet Miers” did not make people think of a highly qualified individual or a top legal mind. Alito so far doesn’t have a bad “high concept” feel, apparently…but that could change if it’s nailed down that he’s ready to overturn Roe V Wade.
So watch the news reports on Alito’s meetings with Senators. Watch the news reports suggesting position on abortion may not be as fixed as some on the left fear (keeping in mind that some of these reports could also be leaks or come from sourcing with political motives).
If he’s a reasonable man, a respected jurist, and is impressing Senators (unlike Miers) he’ll likely be approved. In the end, Bush will have an impact on the court. The GOPers can point to that with pride — and the Democrats use the conservative judges as fund-raising and a campaign issue.
The Democrats can change this by winning some elections and getting their people in. And Nader voters might consider the tiny idea that perhaps Their Leader’s claim that there were no differences between the two parties fell a tad short of the mark — and choose the Rs or the Ds next time.