48 49

With 44 Dems, the independent, McCain and Chaffee already on the record going against the filibuster, Chuck Hagel's (R-Neb) voice seems pretty strongly against it as well (my emphasis):

"We need to work through this," said Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., who is publicly undecided about whether to endorse the GOP threat to use their Senate majority to ban such filibusters.

Hagel noted that private talks are continuing between Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., in an effort to work out a compromise.

"My goodness, you've got 100 United States senators. Some of us might be moderately intelligent enough to figure this out. We would, I think, debase our system and fail our country if we don't do this," Hagel told ABC's "This Week."

"But you can't give up a minority rights tool in the interest of the country, like the filibuster," he said.

I would dare say those are the words of a man who will vote to maintain the current filibuster rules. But he goes on:

"The United States Senate is a minority rights institution unique in the world," Hagel said. "And I don't think either side wants to give that up. Now, the other part of this, which I also believe strongly, is that presidents deserve votes on their nominees."

Yet he noted that Republicans prevented votes on many of President Clinton's choices for the federal bench.

"The Republicans' hands aren't clean on this either. What we did with Bill Clinton's nominees _ about 62 of them _ we just didn't give them votes in committee or we didn't bring them up," Hagel said.

Yep. Republicans can prevent 62 judges from having their up or down vote, and they have no problem doing it. However, the Democrats block just 10 of the most extreme judges, one of whom has been called a judicial activist by our current attorney general, and all Democrats are the bad guys.

It's a power grab, plain and simple. And three more Republicans with a conscience can prevent it.

*UPDATE* Forgot Olympia Snowe, whom reports show will vote against the Republican power grab as well. Make it 49...