More on the Filibuster Deal and 2008
Hugh Hewitt offers a reasonable assessment of winners and losers in this recent deal struck by the 14 Senators to avoid a showdown on filibusters.
Hewitt argues that the biggest loser is John McCain. McCain has angered conservative Republican activists and that will cost him in 2008. Other big losers are Lindsay Graham of South Carolina and Mike DeWine of Ohio.
Winners, according to Hewitt, are George Allen, John Thune, Rudy Giuliani, and Mitt Romney.
Of course, the biggest winners are Priscilla Owen and the other judges who will soon be confirmed. Frist will be a loser in all of this, if he doesn’t bring all of the judges up for a vote and, if necessary, put the Constitutional/Nuclear option on the table
Peggy Noonan offers some caustic comments on the narcissism of the 14 Senators. It was nauseating to listen to these fourteen talk about how they had saved the Republic. I’ve always found Lindsay Graham charming in a blow-dried Huey Long kind of way.
Ohio distinguished itself in the 2004 election by delivering the Electoral College majority to President Bush by 60,000 votes. Since the election, Ohio’s two Senators have embarassed the state, Voinovich on the Bolton nomination (Does Voinovich really believe that Bolton will endanger his grandchildren?)and DeWine on the Seante deal. Hewitt points out that DeWine has probably cost his son, Patrick the upcoming primary election in Ohio’s 2nd Congressional District.
