Via Red State, this NY Times piece giving Roberts filibuster clearance from the deal-makers:
The possibility of a filibuster against John G. Roberts, President Bush’s nominee to the Supreme Court, appeared to recede today, as several Democrats emerged from a meeting of swing senators to say they did not envision their party trying to block the nomination.
“This is a credible nominee, and not one that – as far as we know now – has a record that in any sense could be described as extremist,” said Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, after a breakfast session with the Gang of 14, a bipartisan group that helped broker a deal in May to avert a Senate showdown over judicial nominees.
While Mr. Lieberman and his Democratic colleagues were careful not to rule out a filibuster – “There’s a lot I don’t know about John Roberts,” the Connecticut senator said – their remarks after the meeting suggested that, barring any surprise developments, they expected Judge Roberts to be eventually confirmed.
With all the Godfather talk as of late among some in the Democratic base, I think it is safe to say that Lieberman will soon be declared ‘Dead to me’ by the left-wing of the Democratic party.
At any rate, barring any unforeseen surprises (Roberts has already endured five FBI investigations), I think the confirmation is now a lock, and it is just a matter of how much noise Democrats can make to keep the base happy and keep the fund-raising clicking.
“Gang of Fourteen” Gives Roberts the ‘OK’Post + Comments (28)