Filibuster Pt. 2

Already Howard Dean is in front of the next Bush Supreme Court nomination:

In an interview, Dean said Democratic unity is essential in the upcoming battle and that the party "absolutely" should be prepared to filibuster -- holding unlimited debate and preventing an up-or-down vote -- Bush's next high court nominee, if he taps someone they find unacceptably ideological. He cited appellate court judges Priscilla R. Owen and Janice Rogers Brown as two who would be likely to trigger such opposition.

"Those people are clearly not qualified to sit on the Supreme Court, and we're going to do everything we can to make sure they don't," he said. "If we lose, better to go down fighting and standing for what we believe in, because we will not win an election if the public doesn't think we'll stand up for what we believe in."

While I think conservatives would cheer the appointment of a hard core right judge and the end of the filibuster, I'm not sure the public would be on their side anymore. The GOP is already facing criminal indictments, ethics violations, poor public approval ratings, and the debacle that was Hurricane Katrina response. Many are beginning to see elections tides turning against Republicans in 2006.

Now imagine a struggle party makes one last power grab before the real election season kicks off. How could it not be portrayed as anything less than a desperate party make one last desperate attempt to maintain their power?

Clearly the right is not going to lie down for this one. And the battle only begins if Bush does appoint a strongly ideological and unqualified judge. But I can't imagine this is a battle that elected officials are really wanting to undertake.