CBSNews: McCain will break ranks. Frist moves vote to next week.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

Setting the stage for a politically charged showdown, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist announced he will press for confirmation beginning next week of President Bush's long-stalled appeals court nominees, seeking to strip Democrats of their ability to block final votes.


Fearing consequences that could last for years, moderate senators in both parties are trying to stop this filibuster showdown, reports CBS News Capitol Hill Correspondent Bob Fuss.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/05/17/politics/main695730_page3.shtml

Note: Last I heard, the vote was to be this week, hence Frist has moved it back. This is quite indicative of him not being able to round up the votes.

Say what you will, regarding McCain. The man is putting Senate tradition before himself.

[mmonk]

1. As I hoped he would.

[Justice]

2. They say it is the new Senators versus the older Senators

particularly the Senators who have come up from the House of Representatives, who are pushing this. They are very used to getting their way.

[Benhurst]

6. This will separate the sheep from the goats. Any so-called

New England "moderate" Republican who votes for this is no moderate, just a rabid right-winger like their Southern Republican cum Dixiecrat partners in crime against the Republic.

[MaineDem]

3. Olympia Snowe has said she would vote to retain the filibuster

Collins has been noncommital.

I don't think Frist has the votes.

[intheflow]

39. Collins would be a fool to back anything else Republican.

Shutting down the base up there is a really big thing. I half expect Snow to jump parties one of these days. She sounded really p.o.'d in the interview I heard with her last week.

[plasticsundance]

49. She'd probably become Independent like Jeffords

[AussieDave]

4. Here are the Senators I think should oppose the nuclear option

- McCain, Snowe, Collins, Chafee, Smith (Oregon) and possibly Voinovich. Specter and Lugar want to but they like their Chairmanships too much.

But frankly I'll believe it when I see it - they're REPUBLICANS, after all..........

[TheFarseer]

10. I almost gaurantee Hagel will vote against nuclear option.

It's Nelson I'm worried about.

[Catt03]

16. I agree that McCain

cannot be trusted. I also am skeptical of Frist and all the statements for and against from the Republicans like McCain. I don't trust any of them and think anything they do is out of fear of Bush and backlash.

If Snow, Collins, Chafee and Voinovich have any value base whatsoever, they would stand up and be heard as real Republicans, not the Bush Republican neocon imperialistic party in control now.

[fertilizeonarbusto]

25. I bet you Specter doesn't vote to end the filibuster

He's never running again.

[WhiteTara]

55. should or will? eom

[GreenArrow]

5. "The man is putting Senate tradition before himself"

Or, perhaps, his personal ambition.

[bemildred]

8. Yeah. "Senate Tradition" very much coincides with McCain's interest. nt

[GreenArrow]

26. IIRC, public opinion is against changing the fillibuster rule

and Chimpy's approval rating is spiraling ever lower. Mccain is where he always is, protecting his own interests. I'm glad he's doing it, but I hold no illusions that he's doing it for principle.

[bemildred]

28. Yes. nt

[newfaceinhell]

31. Indeed--well said. nt.

[mmonk]

9. Either way,

it works. I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. He may not agree with the "constitution in exile" judges.

[GreenArrow]

27. hey, I'm all for it too

I just don't trust the guy.

[blondeatlast]

18. McCin is a walk in AZ with or without the RNC.

He can tell them to eff off and still win every time (I'm a Zonie, but not in his district).

He knows he can get away with this and get re-elected and I think he's given up on a presidential run.

[GreenArrow]

29. I hope he doesn't run for President

but that's what it seems he looking at. Regardless of his motives, I hope he does vote against it.

[stevedeshazer]

35. How can you not be in his district?

[geniph]

54. That's what I was wondering

the vote for a Senator is statewide...

[tyedyeto]

37. He is an asshole....

He will only go against the grain if he already knows his vote won't make a bit of difference.

I can't understand why the people of this state keep voting for this jerk.

I've written to him several times about some issues and he/his staffers have never once replied to any of my correspondence. And I live in AZ. I did hear from Kyl one time...some BS snail mail letter thanking me for my viewpoint but it mimicked right wing talking points throughout.

[Changenow]

52. Come on, this group should know that where

his ambition will be served by this apparent independent vote, it is no profile in courage. Frist will release a few whose votes aren't necessary. McCain is loyal first to the god Republicanism, then to himself, then his country.

That McCain is willing to make this statement is very bad news, it means Frist doesn't need his vote.

[SCDem]

7. Could this be done on purpose

Frist being fall guy (a guy that Democrats think will run in 2008) and McCain will be the good guy and he will be the actual one running in 2008?

I know it sounds far fetched but could it be? :shrug:

[Nickster]

11. Interesting thoughts. McCain does have the ambition to run in 08

and he knows that Frist is stuck between a rock and the fundies. Maybe McCain realizes Frist has no choice but to run with the nuclear option and that he can help it to backfire in Frist's face thus hurting Frist's chances in 08 and making McCain's position that much stronger.

[0007]

12. Is this classic comedy or what?

junior will march McCain straight to the Dog House and whack him on the head with today's newspaper.


I'll be better next week and do what ya say, boss.

[still_one]

13. what will lieberman do?

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

14. Guess:

Lieberman is a long-time senator, one who does have a respect for the traditions of that body. I think he will vote against Frist. If he does not, then he risks being in a political no-mans-land, and that is something that serves neither him nor his constituents.

[jazzjunkysue]

47. He's not in no man's land: He's in Zell-Land. Been there for a while.

[DemNoir]

17. That could be interesting

Lieberman has the Groton,CT sub base to worry about. I wonder if they will use that to twist his arm.

[jobycom]

21. Lieberman will vote for his party, because otherwise

his influence and power would be greatly diminished. Lieberman's crossover votes have never been about strengthening the Republicans, they have been about strengthening his own power. If the Democrats lose the fillibuster power, they lose all ability to influence national politics. Thus, Lieberman goes from being an enigmatic and unpredictable--thus often courted by both parties--member of the opposition party, to just another non-impact player. Even if he switched parties, he would no longer be necessary to either party as a possible swing vote, so he would no longer gain attention. Ask Ben Lighthorse Campbell.

He'll vote against Frist.

I think McCain's in the same situation. If he wants to stand out, he has to not look like all the others. His power, too, is based on the need of the Democrats to find occassional allies. The Democrats thus court him, and the Republicans have to keep him happy, so he won't split. If the Democrats can't fillibuster, McCain has no power, either. He wants to be president, and he needs attention to become it.

Frist is asking senators to weaken their own power for Bush. I'm surprised he has as many votes as he does.

[grumpy old fart]

23. Well said, this move will help no one but Bush...and he's a lame duck...

all of the real players know this won't help them individually....and that's always what it's about in the end....

[Strawman]

30. I've wondered

if they could avoid the showdown by getting conservative Dems like Lieberman to just vote for cloture, but I can't imagine 5 Dems defecting after all this time especially for Owen and Brown. Picking those two first is just asking for a showdown.

[blondeatlast]

15. McCain doesn't need the RNC to win in Az and he knows it.

His name on the ticket is all it requires.

He's got very, very little to lose in doing the right thing here.

Us red staters learn to appreciate whatever good we can find, and AZ could have far worse than McCain.

Come to think of it, we DO.

[trogdor]

19. I guess Frist needs another week.

To have his thugs work McCain and the other defectors over.

[NNN0LHI]

20. McCain is an asshole

This filibuster BS was never any more that a threat to begin with. They were never going to do it. It was just a ploy to make McCain look like a reasonable fellow in the end. He is not. He is goofier than Bush. Don't fall for the Republicans crap.

Don

[grumpy old fart]

22. I wouldn't count on McCain, unless he's sure it's a slam dunk.....

he'll jump if it's an opportunity to "look" like a moderate, but if it comes down to him alone, he's up Bush's butt and always has been.

[hatrack]

24. Yeah, well I'll believe it when I see it

Any time I get my hopes up about McCain displaying independence or placing the good of the country above his own political hide, I think back to his big sticky hug of the Chimp, and then I return quickly to landlocked reality.

[expatriot]

32. This is what makes McCain so goddamn dangerous...

...he has more integrity in his little finger than the whole rest of the gop put together, but yet his ideology is as evil as the worst of them.... anti-minimum wage, anti-unions, libertarian view of government, pro-privatization, anti-public schools, anti-choice, etc.



on edit: and of course, a bushie hawk.

[Changenow]

53. McCain and integrity?

Pleezzzze.

[Skwmom]

56. McCain has integrity?

Surely you jest.

[Toots]

33. Before McCain ever makes any decisions the votes have already been decided

He is a political animal. don't be fooled if it looked like they were going to lose he would change in a heartbeat.

[UTUSN]

34. "putting (whatever) before himself"-----------Like This?

[NNN0LHI]

36. Hard to believe some people keep falling for the same shit over and over

Real hard to believe if you know what I mean?

Don

[Hamlette]

38. before himself? McCain? Maybe he can just read the polls.

I hate when people see McCain as anything but a wing nut. I will admit, he is a wing nut in the Goldwater tradition. But before you romanticize either of them, hear their views on things like abortion and war.

They might not be crazy fundie wing nuts, but wing nuts they are.

[dryan]

40. Let's get to the bottom line....

do the Republicans have the votes or not?

In some ways, I hope it passes---it will come back to haunt them when they are in the minority. This always happens--they pushed through the Constitutional amendment to limit the Presidency to 2 terms and have tried three times since then to change it back -- Eisenhower, Reagan, and now Bush 43.

[Skypilot 18]

41. McCain is not to be trusted

Never take this weirdo at face value. He always looks out for number one (himself).

[mmonk]

46. Right now, the only thing I'm looking for

is his views on Senate rules.

[woosh]

42. McCain's first stop on the presidential bandwagon

It's good in a way, if the GOP wins the white house in '08, they'll need someone who can work with a democratic congress... ;)

[BlueIris]

43. Thanks, Senator McCain.

I knew you hadn't totally lost everything decent about you.

[Zorra]

44. McCain is not putting Senate tradition before himself. This "filibuster

buster" is not popular with the American people and will this will serve McCain in his bid for the Residency in 2008.

That said, it's still a good thing despite his ulterior motives.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

45. I think we are "assuming" too much, too quickly...

He hasnt' done it yet.

[Gloria]

48. Bull. McCain was just on CNN telling Wolfie that the Democrats were

blocking the GOP judges (boo hoo) and generally making it sound like they were the obstructionists. He was delivering the standard GOP spin and there was no one on to counter him.

He is a whore. He knows better. I was so pissed a yelled at the TV.

And what is this "compromise" in the works??? Feinstein and Brownback were on a bit later.

[Changenow]

50. All McCain's vote means is that

Frist can get to 50 without him, if his vote was needed he'd vote with the majority.

[chaumont58]

51. I don't think Frist knows how to get out of the box he has painted

Shit canning the filibuster engenders himself to his fundie following, no one else. If he even has the votes, he loses the pr war. He is an arrogant fuckin' doctor with a political tin ear, not use to being told he is wrong.