The title of this post sounds like a fable, before this event is over it will probably be a fable. A fable is a story that provides a lesson. The fable of the filibuster is that a democratic country should behave in a democratic fashion, and when they don't, the public doesn't like it.
The most recent election in the minds of the public settled the question of who gets to appoint judges. Democrats that attempt to stand in the way of the public are even losing support from their own party. This truly is a nuclear option and the public is blaming the Democrats for the necessity of using it.
In many respects the current strategy employed by the Democrats hark-ens to the days of House Speaker Newt Gingrich and his heavy handed treatment of President Bill Clinton. Shutting down the Federal Government was his 'nuclear option'. It backfired and is one of the reasons he is now an excellent book reviewer for Amazon.com!
Compare this poll with the phony poll from the Washington Post. First off the questions are direct and do not try and feed a bias. Notice the result to the question, 'Should every nominee receive a vote?' 49% say yes, 23% say no. This is a pretty good indicator that some of the answers were falling into the 'I'm not sure EVERY nominee should receive a vote.' This is the only bipartisan view a person can take on this issue since some nominees might be extremely inappropriate and should never get out of the Committee.
Look at the Senate Rules Question...Wow, 57% say change them and only 25% say don't change them. That correctly places in context the radical nature of what the Senate Democrats are actually doing. The American people know that the filibuster has never been used on judicial nominees and all of the muddy arguments which attempt to drag legislation filibusters into the mix are failing rather miserably. This is not that confusing an issue and the attempts by both the media and Senate Democrats to make the issue more confusing are failing.
A final question that I can post about is the issue of Senate Democrats 'shutting down' the Senate. Surely it is no accident that 25% of the respondents favored not changing the rule and 25% of the respondents favored shutting down the Senate if the rule was changed. I think it is fair to say that the poll is capturing the feelings of the partisan left and that it represents only 25% of the country. When the Democrats and the media play to that fringe, they are radicalizing their message and the radicalization of their message is not resonating with the majority of the public.
In summary, just like Newt Gingrich, Democrats had better not misinterpret the voter's message from the last several elections. Playing to an energized fringe is no way to win elections, though it may help you raise money. Based upon these poll numbers, I would advise Senator Clinton to even potentially vote against the filibuster (or conveniently be out of the Senate at the time). She needs to lose her Liberal fringe label and this is a litmus test.
If after the rules change obstructionism is the tactic employed, woe to the Democrats in the next election cycle. This is going to be a defining issue in the coming mid-term election and I would also expect it to be an issue in the next Presidential election. Senator Clinton had better weigh in on this issue to establish her moderate credentials. Her silence about both the tactic and the nominees will hurt her with the moderates she has been trying to court.
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