Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), a leading advocate of the "nuclear option" to end the Democrats' filibuster of judicial nominees, is privately arguing for a delay in the face of adverse internal party polls.With the first of the contentious judges approaching a vote on the Senate floor, it looks like they are hedging.
Details of the polling numbers remain under wraps, but Santorum and other Senate sources concede that, while a majority of Americans oppose the filibuster, the figures show that most also accept the Democratic message that Republicans are trying to destroy the tradition of debate in the Senate.
Another thing to note is how this will play out. The Majority is actually sitting on one of these judges themselves (William Myers, who has already been approved by the Judicial committee), choosing to wait for a woman (Priscilla Owen), an African American (Janice Rogers Brown), or a Catholic (William Pryor), to be first to come to the floor. That way they can turn it into a political anti-(insert demographic tag here) Democratic obstructionism vote. It's one thing to fight on principle, it's a totally different story when you politically maneuver to pander to the public. In any case, it appears to be backfiring, for now!
Flash
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