There's been a lot of talk since this whole Franken-Coleman thing started, about how Franken would be the 60th vote, that some iron-clad fist would come down upon the Senate, preventing any and all possible filibusters. That is such a load of bull. There will be no 60-vote filibuster override. There will likely not even be any serious filibusters -- even the back-and-forth threats of filibusters during the Bush Administration produced more threats than actual attempts. Have any of these any of these Senators actually sat down and listened to debates on the floor of the Senate? Where you find a member of Congress, you'll likely find two different opinions on a matter. 60 votes means 120 different opinions, folks -- there's no way this will ever happen. Especially when you look at some of these Democrats in the so-called super-majority. Let's take a look at one in particular:
Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) - Former Democrat. Caucused with the Democrats, and sides with them on a majority of issues, with the exception of the that get talked about on the news. One these issues, Joe always seems to surround himself with Republicans and denounce whatever happens to be on the table at the time CNN's cameras show up. Won't likely vote for cloture on big issues; smaller issues won't likely be filibustered. He's may be caucused with the Democrats, but since he had to get there as an independent, I have to imagine that he's still somewhat upset at his former party, and no one should put it beyond an elected officials to stick it to someone he doesn't like, just because.
This brings the total down to 59. I really doubt a vote for cloture would come to rest at 59-41, but it would be enough. You know, I'm sure that Joe Lieberman is a great guy, but c'mon, Connecticut, you couldn't have voted for Ned Lamont?
-Adam
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