"Sometimes politicans do things out of conviction"(Digby)

[kpete]

.................

......... "Sometimes politicans do things out of conviction and many Democrats are supporting a filibuster because they really believe that he should not be on the Supreme Court."

The wingnuts were very taken aback by that statement, one of them replying: "Well, that's putting the best possible face on it."

Indeed it is. It's one of the big issues lurking beneath this Alito fight. The Republicans know very well that their future depends upon Americans continuing to see Democrats as weak and lacking in conviction. That's all they've got.

The chattering classes are all very sure that the Democrats have made a grave mistake on Alito. According to reports in the press, many insider Democrats believe this too. I believe they are wrong. This may look like a ragged strategy in some respects, but it is good for us to be seen doing things that have no obvious political advantage and for which we can legitimately claim to have taken the moral high ground. Yes, the tittering congnoscenti will flutter their fans and whisper that Democrats are witless and dull, but in this case we are talking directly to the people not to them. They have no idea anymore that a world exists out here where poltical calculation is beside the point.

Regardless of how this comes out in the end, and we don't know until the votes are cast, this may be seen as a defining moment for the Democratic Party. When a calculating political creature like Dianne Feinstein rushes to support a filibuster rather than reaffirm her opposition once conventional wisdom says a filibuster will fail, is meaningful. Democratic politicians (if not their moribund strategists) are feeling the pressure from the people to do the right thing.

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2006_01_22_digbysblog_archive.html#113847779166787755

[Wordie]

1. It's going to be the Dems finest moment in quite a while, no matter

whether they win or lose. The msm and RW kept asking, "Well, what do you stand for?"

THIS is it. And it will be noticed.

Recommended.

[The Backlash Cometh]

6. My sentiments exactly.

[kpete]

2. Rebellion

Rebellion

What’s happened over the past few days, however, has been a surprise to many Washington-based national Democrats. Rank-and-file Democrats across the country quickly saw through these tricky word games and rebelled, expressing outrage through the Internet and via talk-radio stations.

This Democratic base has demanded that Democratic leaders, for once, set aside political gamesmanship and recognize that Alito and his radical theories of an all-powerful executive are a serious threat to the future of the American democratic Republic.

The rank-and-file outrage appears to have stiffened the spines of some prominent Democrats.

Sen. John Kerry, the party’s presidential standard-bearer in 2004, called for a filibuster. Other Democrats said they would join Kerry, although their earlier hesitancy to mount a full-scale battle against Alito may have doomed hopes of preventing Republicans from amassing the 60 votes needed to shut off debate.

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2006/012906.html

[Wordie]

7. It IS possible for individuals, working together, to effect change. eom

[mom cat]

3. What an excellent post. Things are shaking up! ... K&R

[Sydnie]

4. Reid delivered the first punch Dem when he said it was a vote of

conscience. Let's not let them forget that Specter said the same thing just before he closed the questioning portion of the hearings, speaking about himself and his own vote. Kerry brought it back when he pointed out that saving your powered for a future that you are watching go down the drain is no plan at all.

As for Feinstein, I think we owe a debt of gratitude to Cindy Sheehan (yet again) for putting it in a different light for Feinstein. Diane knew that Cindy would kick her ass in the polls of public opinion and she didn't want to tangle with that demon at all.

[MelissaB]

5. snip (and a great idea)

And ... I know that it is somewhat unpopular to say this, and I will get a ration of angry comments for suggesting it, but I'm doing it anyway. If any of the following are your Senators, think about taking a minute to thank them for announcing they will support the filibuster. They are being ridiculed and scorned by everybody in the beltway for being dimwitted tools of the angry left or craven political opportunists. It seems to me that if we tell them we like it when they act out of conviction, they'll do it more often. I still think we should get their back on this:

1. Barbara Boxer (D- CA)
2. Dianne Feinstein (D- CA)
3. Christopher J. Dodd (D- CT)
4. Richard J. Durbin (D- IL)
5. John F. Kerry (D- MA)
6. Edward M. Kennedy (D- MA)
7. Paul S. Sarbanes (D- MD)
8. Debbie A. Stabenow (D- MI)
9. Harry Reid (D- NV)
10. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D- NY)
11. Charles Schumer (D- NY)
12. Ron Wyden (D- OR)
13. Russell D. Feingold (D- WI)
14. Barack Obama (D-IL)
15. Robert Menendez (D-NJ)

[stickdog]

8. kick