The Alito 8

I think this was mentioned in the comments yesterday but the situation regarding Samuel Alito's confirmation to the Supreme Court is serious to the point where I think it warrants front-page treatment.

Bob Fertik at Democrats.com has a list of eight Democratic senators who he suspects are not supporting a filibuster. On Tuesday, Harry Reid indicated in a meeting with progressive lobbyists that he had nearly 44 votes against Alito but Alito would still be confirmed 56-44. As Fertik says, "If Reid has nearly 44 votes against Alito, every one of those Senators should support a filibuster or their vote against Alito is meaningless."

Reid also said he will not pressure Democratic Senators on Alito because it's a "conscience vote."

Fertik says, "Reid would not name the "Alito 8" who are blocking a Democratic filibuster - so we need to identify them and tell them not to betray the Democrats who funded them and voted for them. If Democrats want our support to win in 2006, we need their support now: 888-355-3588 or 888-818-6641. Here is the directory for Congress.

The most likely suspects are the "Red State" Democrats:

Tom Carper (DE)
Kent Conrad (ND)
Byron Dorgan (ND)
Tim Johnson (SD)
Mary Landrieu (LA) - who has already publicly spoken out against a filibuster.
Blanche Lincoln (AR)
Mark Pryor (AR)

It takes just 1 Senator to start the filibuster and 41 to vote against cloture. Surely Reid can guarantee 41 votes. And if John Kerry, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Evan Bayh or Russ Feingold plan to run for president, Fertik asks how can you lead the party if you can't lead a filibuster?

The Rude Pundit asks an even better question: "So here's the question that the Rude Pundit has for Senators Daniel Akaka, Max Baucus, Joe Biden, Robert Byrd, Kent Conrad, Tom Harkin, Jim Jeffords, Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Frank Lautenberg, Patrick Leahy, Carl Levin, Joe Lieberman, Barbara Mikulski, Harry Reid, Jay Rockefeller, and Paul Sarbanes, who were there then and are there now: Do you wish you had filibustered Clarence Thomas now? Do you wish you had done everything you could even against the slim majority that supported Thomas?"

Personally, my greatest concern once this is over is the potentially large negative impact the weak Democratic response to Alito's confirmation will have on Howard's 50-state strategy. In the comments over at Kos and other blogs, I've seen people threatening to cancel their Democracy Bonds and refuse to donate to the DNC ever again if the Democrats fold like a cheap tent on the filibuster.

Howard is the most visible Democrat: he is out front and center raising money for the state parties and I am greatly concerned that he is going to absorb a lot of heat for an outcome that is not within his control.

Could this from David Neiwert be the tip of the iceberg?

I broke my longstanding policy of not donating money to political parties last fall when the folks from the DNC called and asked for money to help gird them for the upcoming fights over judicial seats. I was assured that indeed they would fight to keep right-wing extremists off the Supreme Court.

And now, faced with a clear-cut extremist (and dissembler) who is about to not only overturn the right to obtain an abortion, but also to pave the path for an imperial executive branch with limitless powers ... nothing.

I'm not terribly inclined, as my readers know, to use profanity in my posts. But if the Democratic Party wants any more of my money, they can just go fuck themselves.

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