The Alito 48 - Sunday Update (Democrats .com)

[kpete]

The Alito 48
By Bob Fertik
Created 2006-01-27 00:13
Sunday Updates: (Scroll to bottom for Saturday's news)

Great news!! There is nothing new in today's NY Times or Pentagon Post or the AP about Alito. That means Harry Reid and the Senate Democrats have not unilaterally surrendered to Bush - yet.

There are many phone, fax, and email lists circulating, including the long list of local numbers below. I will try to figure out the best list for all of us to use today, since nearly every known voicemail box is full (hooray!!)

Tomorrow (Monday) is the Big Day. Starting at 9:00 a.m., we must flood Congressional offices with calls - even shut down the Capitol switchboard.

20-odd Senators can't figure out what to do. With a hat-tip to Josh Marshall, I'm calling them the "Clueless Caucus" and tracking their statements at AlitoWaffleWatch

Thanks to RawStory.com for their kind words about our humble efforts. http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Liberal_bloggers_pushing_hard_for_filibuster_0128.html

Original Post:

We need to stop George Bush from getting 60 Senators to end the filibuster on Monday at 4:30 p.m.

That means we must convince 41 Senators to either support a filibuster or stay away from the Senate on Monday, preferably by visiting maimed soldiers at Walter Reed Hospital.

Below is a list of 44 Democrats, 1 Independent, and 3 Republicans whose support is possible - the "Alito 48."

http://www.democrats.com/alito-48

[Plausible]

1. he's been doing great on keeping us updated

on Senators and their voting status.

[gkhouston]

2. they can't be absent... they must at least be present and abstaining

The cloture vote isn't an absolute number -- 60 -- it's 3/5 of the members present (assuming at least 2/3 of the Senate is there). If they stay away, there will be fewer total Senators and it will therefore take fewer "yes" votes to achieve cloture. They must either vote "no" or abstain.

[SpiralHawk]

3. "the Clueless Caucus"

An all-too accurate meme is born.

Let us hope the Dems-on-their-knees wake up pronto, so the meme can be Swiftly Mothballed (or reassigned to the Troglodyte Republicans).