ConfirmThem

By AndrewHyman Comments () / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Byron York at National Review Online has a good article based on interviews with three “well-connected" but anonymous Republicans (A, B, and C). Let’s start with York’s conclusion:

It is entirely possible that neither side will budge and Frist will end the filibusters with the nuclear/constitutional/Byrd option. But the process is not at that point yet. In fact, it is safe to say that, despite the enormous amount of attention paid to the subject recently, many Republican and Democratic senators have not yet thought hard about what they would actually do to end the stalemate. They know some sort of resolution is coming, but it's not quite here yet, and they haven't gotten to the point where they clear away all other concerns and concentrate on the filibusters. But that time is coming soon.

When it becomes clear that Frist is ready to act on the filibusters, then Republicans and Democrats will start thinking hard. Seventy-two hours before such a deadline — and 48 hours before, and then 24 hours before — lawmakers will begin the kind of intense thinking about the subject that many have not done up to now. "The prospect of a deadline will sharpen the mind," says Republican C. And even though Frist has no obligation to announce the day and hour he might take action, that will likely become clear enough. "The sound of the waterfall will be so great," says Republican B, "that everybody will know when we're approaching the edge."

Here are a few of York’s other major points:

Republicans genuinely, and deeply, believe that Democrats have abused the system by their unprecedented filibusters of an entire slate of judicial nominees. To use the phrase heard most often in discussions with them, Republicans want to "fix the problem going forward," that is, to break through not only today's stalemate but prevent future ones.
….
Frist's 100-hour proposal is a substantial deal. While it would end filibusters, it would mean that Democrats could still effectively block some nominees. "Senate floor time is very precious," says Republican A. "If you have a lot of guaranteed debate time, then effectively leadership will not be able to bring forward every nominee if the minority insists on going through every procedure that is there. If [Democrats] said, 'We want 100 hours on all of them,' then realistically all of them would not come up."
….
More importantly, some in the GOP appear willing to abandon the position that all Bush nominees must have an up-or-down vote — if that would ensure that future nominees would not face filibusters….It is important to remember that Democrats already have killed three nominations….Any count of Republican concessions to Democrats would begin with the number three.

But keep in mind that none of those three were withdrawn at the President's initiative. The nominees themselves wanted to withdraw, and understandably so.

UPDATE: Paul Mirengoff comments on York's piece, over at Power Line.