Gang of 14 Deal Working for Republicans?John McIntyre of
Real Clear Politics asks if conservatives owe John McCain an apology for the thunder with which they greeted the announcement of the Gang of 14 Deal. As
the Swiss delegate of the Coalition of the Chillin', I am officially neutral.
Unofficially, I don't think there's any doubt that the Republicans seem to have won fairly decisively. There's a good argument to be made that without the Gang of 14, we would have seen a filibuster of Justice Alito. The Democrats on that group are as follows:
Joe Lieberman, Robert Byrd, Ben Nelson, Mary Landrieu, Daniel Inouye, Mark Pryor and Ken Salazar.
Every single one of them
voted for cloture (i.e., against the filibuster). Byrd and Nelson even defied their caucus and voted in favor of confirmation (both are up for reelection this year in Red States.
That's not to say that the deal might not turn around and bite the Republicans four years from now if President Hillary Clinton, say, nominates Susan Estrich for the high court. But for now I gotta hand it to McCain's mutiny; it seems to have worked out well for us.
