I still don't think there will be a filibuster, but this news now makes me wonder;
One of the most conservative Democrats in the Senate, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) today announced he would vote no on Judge Samuel Alito Jr.’s confirmation to the Supreme Court -- raising the possiblity of a filibuster, RAW STORY has learned. Just one Democrat has said he'll vote to confirm Alito.
Nelson's release follows;
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida today announced he would vote no on Judge Samuel Alito Jr.’s confirmation to the Supreme Court.
Alito, President Bush’s nominee to succeed retiring Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, won a narrow 10-8 approval from the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier in the day. The full Senate is expected to vote later this week or early next week.
Nelson, who withheld an announcement until the judiciary panel had finished its hearings on Alito, disclosed his intention to vote no shortly after the committee’s final meeting. Said Nelson:
"I have voted for almost all of President Bush’s judicial nominees; and, I greeted Judge Alito’s nomination with an open mind. But his many legal writings, judicial opinions and evasive answers both at his hearing and in our private meeting, convinced me he would tilt the scales of justice in favor of big government over the average person.
"Because he is not the centrist voice I believe this nation needs to replace the retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who fiercely defended the rights and liberties of all Americans, I’m going to vote no on his confirmation."
All told, during five-plus years in the Senate, Nelson has voted for 215, or 96 percent, of the president’s 225 judicial picks, including Miguel Estrada and Chief Justice John Roberts.
Info on the "Gang of 14";
The Gang of 14 (sometimes called the Mod Squad, with "mod" standing for "moderate") was a term coined to describe the bipartisan group of moderate Senators who successfully negotiated a compromise to avoid the deployment of the so-called nuclear option over the organized use of the filibuster by Senate Democrats in opposition to judicial nominees in the U.S. Senate in early 2005. It consists of 7 Republicans and 7 Democrats led by Sens. Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska) and John McCain (R-Arizona). The informal group was active again in July 2005, attempting to advise Bush on the choice of a nominee to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. On November 3, 2005, the group met to discuss the nomination of Samuel Alito to the high court, but came to no conclusions, noting that the hearing process has only just begun.
The Gang of 14 made an agreement whereby the seven Democrats would no longer vote along with their party on filibustering judicial nominees (except in "extraordinary circumstances"), and in turn the seven Republicans would break with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and the Republican leadership on voting for the "nuclear option." Due to the near-tie in votes between the two parties, the agreement of these Senators practically prevents either side from winning a simple majority to pass either the filibuster or the change to congressional rules. While infuriating their party leaderships, the group members were hailed as moderates who put aside the severe partisanship to do what was best for the Senate.
