ABC News is reporting that enough Senators have declared opposition to a filibuster to assure Judge Alito's confirmation. Nevertheless, Democratic Senators including Kennedy, Reid and Kerry are still talking about mounting a losing filibuster effort.

It's easy to see why most Democrats have no stomach for a filibuster, given the state-by-state poll data collected by Rasmussen Reports. It's a little hard to understand what the point of an unsuccessful filibuster effort would be. The downside, I suppose, may be that if the Democrats try to filibuster an obviously qualified and highly popuar nominee like Alito, their credibility may be undercut if they mount a more serious effort against a hypothetical third Bush nominee.

UPDATE: Senator Feinstein has announced that she will support a filibuster. Feinstein previously had said that she didn't think a filibuster was justified.

Posted by John at 11:29 AM  |    |