"Roll Call" behind the scenes: Dems angry with Kerry re. failed filibuster

[DeepModem Mom]

Failed Filibuster Bid Worries Democrats
By John Stanton
Roll Call Staff
January 31, 2006


Although the Senate on Monday soundly defeated the 11th-hour decision by Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) to push for a filibuster of Supreme Court nominee Judge Samuel Alito, some Democrats worry privately that the failed filibuster could have long-term effects on the party’s ability to regain control of the chamber in November....

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Officially, Kerry’s Democratic colleagues have avoided directly criticizing Kerry or addressing frustrations with its 2004 presidential candidate....Privately, however, many Democratic aides and lawmakers — including those who adamantly oppose Alito’s nomination — expressed growing frustration with Kerry....

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“While I don’t think it will amount to a hill of beans in the end, the White House should send him a bouquet of flowers for this,” one senior aide said, adding that “the timing couldn’t have been worse ... for a Member like this to open us up to criticism of being a divided party.”...

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Although Kerry’s announcement Friday, made while the he was on a trip to Switzerland, stating that he would champion liberal calls for a filibuster, won praise from hard-line Web loggers and left-leaning activists, it prompted significant hand-wringing by party officials.

Democratic aides in the Senate said that many within the party were particularly surprised, since Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) had asked his colleagues not to attempt a filibuster, arguing that the party would be better served by focusing on the GOP’s recent spate of ethics controversies and by trying to frame today’s State of the Union address in a favorable way....“The story would have been that Reid kept 90 percent of the Democrats together, which would have been a great story,” this source said.


http://www.rollcall.com/issues/51_75/news/11961-1.html
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