Let's Debate...NOT!

Mort Kondracke writes today on RealClearPolitics.com that perhaps the answer to the Senate stalemate is to revert to something which, unlike judicial filibusters, is a tradition of the Senate - extended debate.

Before Senate Republicans and Democrats plunge into so-called "nuclear" conflict over President Bush's judicial nominations, why not try something traditional: extended debate?

Bush has sent up a batch of appeals court nominees. Democrats and their allies brand several of them "out of the mainstream" or "right wing" and threaten to filibuster them, as they did 10 nominations in the previous Congress.

In response, Republicans threaten to change Senate rules - by simple majority vote, not the two-thirds required - to prevent judicial filibusters and allow them to be approved by simple majorities, not three-fifths.

And in response, Democrats have vowed to "close down the Senate," delaying action on all measures not involving national security or "critical government services."

What's amazing about this whole process is that so little attention has been paid to the nominees themselves.

Mort believes that if both sides agreed to a vote following extended debate, then any bad judges would be eliminated through the subsequent debate and vote and there would be no need for the nuclear option. Somehow everyone would live happily ever after.

I like Mort, but I think he's missing the real issue here. The fact is the Dems are not interested in debating the real merits of the nominees. Why? Because that's a debate they will lose. When the qualifications of the candidates are publicly and reasonably aired, the Dems will be left with some sort of stammering response which will be a mish-mash of "out of the mainstream", "extreme", "radical", etc., but which will not address the actual abilities of the judges or their fitness to serve. A debate will also publicize each nominees ABA rating of "well qualified", which according to the Dems in years past was the only criteria required for confirmation. Once again they'll be caught in a double standard.

I'm sure Mort would like life in the Senate to be civil, but that's not going to happen. Chuckie Schumer, Teddy Kennedy, Barbara Boxer, Harry Reid et al actually believe that their views are the views of "mainstream" America, and they've backed themselves into a corner with their stubbornness and inflammatory rhetoric. It's going to take some bold action on the part of the GOP to end this thing.

Here are some other local voices on the filibuster issue:

• Blogotional
• Okie on The Lam
• Sheep's Crib
• Hedgehog Blog