According to News10 Sacramento, there are enough Senators in Judge Alito's corner to block a filibuster.
CAPITOL HILL (AP) -- Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito has the votes to clear the last remaining hurdle to his confirmation.
Democrats and Republicans agree Alito will get more than the 60 votes needed to bring debate on his nomination to an end.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid concurs.
"We're going to have a vote Tuesday morning," Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada said. "Everyone knows there are not enough votes to support a filibuster, but it's an opportunity to people to express their opinion on what a bad choice it was to replace Sandra Day O'Connor."
What perfect timing.
A final vote making the New Jersey jurist the nation's 110th Supreme Court justice is scheduled for Tuesday, hours before President Bush gives his State of the Union address to Congress and the nation.
All of this in spite of Senator John Kerry's decision to skip the rest of the World Economic Conference in Davos and fly home to fight for a filibuster.
CAPITOL HILL (AP) -- After jetting back from a world economic conference in the Swiss Alps, Kerry urged his Democratic colleagues to join him in opposing Alito, saying it's "a fight worth making."
Bold speculation: This will drive the final nail into the coffin of his presidential aspirations. Unwittingly, probably, he's putting his credibility on the line with this rush back home to personally lead the opposition -- only to be steamrolled on the first vote. What a great demonstration of his influence. Flex those muscles John, this is sure to impress.
I wish I were as confident as you, but every time I thought he couldn't get any more embarrassing during the campaign, he kept hanging in there and finally got the nomination. Let's hope his luck has run out...or not. Talk about a bad candidate should he make it...
Posted by: Solomon | January 27, 2006 at 05:46 PM
That was my thought. He was a pathetic candidate in 2004, and the way things are shaping up, he'll be a pathetic candidate in 2008. But he did hang in there and with a lot of help from the press he finished stronger than I thought he would.
His chances in 2008 may depend on the whether the press think they can continue to be active campaigners, or will the Libby trial burn them badly enough that they'll take up reporting the news instead of trying to make it.
Posted by: Tom Bowler | January 27, 2006 at 06:03 PM