Hillary Hears the Siren Song of the Wacky Left

Hillary Clinton, trying to run to the right of President Bush on defense and border issues, is scrambling back to the left to try to head off any gains that John Kerry might make with the Dem party's radicals. She's decided to join Kerry's futile filibuster effort:

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday announced she'll join potential 2008 presidential rival John Kerry in voting to filibuster against Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, just as top Democratic leaders predicted the effort is likely doomed.

With three Democratic senators pledging support for Alito, the New Jersey conservative seems virtually assured of being confirmed by the full Senate Monday or Tuesday, party leaders predicted Friday. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told reporters in Washington that "everyone knows" Senate Democrats couldn't muster the 40 votes needed to support a last-ditch filibuster.

"History will show that Judge Alito's nomination is the tipping point against constitutionally-based freedoms and protections we cherish as individuals and as a nation," Clinton wrote in a statement during a fundraising stop in Seattle.

Several senators had urged their colleagues to filibuster this week, but Clinton wasn't among them, Capitol Hill aides said.

Her move seems to put her at odds with New York's senior senator, Charles Schumer, who spent last week privately arguing that a filibuster would damage Democrats' chances of taking back the Senate this year, according to party sources.

Analysts said Clinton had little choice but to back the filibuster, given Kerry's Thursday announcement that he was reviving the stop-Alito movement. For all the talk of Clinton's shift to the center on abortion, she can ill-afford to let a possible adversary outflank her on the left among liberals who favor abortion rights, according to Jennifer Duffy, who monitors the Senate for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.

"It's an empty gesture," Duffy said of Clinton's announcement. "What Democratic primary voter is going to vote for her if she didn't do everything to oppose Alito? ... She had to join John Kerry."

The siren song of the wackos must be pretty loud these days - loud enough to force Dem Senators into a no-win situation. They'll all come out looking silly to most of the country, though they may win a few brief accolades from the tinfoil helmet brigade that makes of the far left side of the blogosphere.

Thank you, John Kerry, for leading your party deeper into the wilderness.