Posted by
Bill Crawford on Tuesday, April 28, 2009 9:48:29 PM
And who's to complain? We certainly weren't complaining when Shelby led a wave of Democrats defecting to the GOP in 1995. Were they any less opportunistic? All's fair in love and politics.
Being that he gave them their 60th vote, the Democrats will have to let him be himself. He is doing this in large part because he knows he wouldn't win a primary fight for his own seat next year. He will vote as he needs to to maintain his centrist position, and he will try to pose himself as a McCain maverick. Even with this, he won't be Harry Reid's biggest party nightmare- that would be Joe Leiberman.
This year will be more of a holding pattern anyway. They don't have the votes for carbon cap & trade or health care reform, and will not try to run the table when they don't have the numbers.
Next year will be the pressure year. The polls are already showing the Republican Party solidifying again, if only in opposition. I don't see anything close to a 1994 in the offing, but Rahm Emmanuel is smart enough to guess that they have to act as if their Congressional coalitions are at a high water mark, and they will have to play 2010 as if it is their last chance.
If they still don't have the votes then for this stuff, we'll see if Obama wants to continue to play it cool (which will kill him) or turns into LBJ and puts some big league pressure on people to deliver votes they normally wouldn't. LBJ used to get people drunk and not let them leave the room until they caved, or would threaten kneecaps, and nobody plays that game in the internet era.
One way or another, next year will be a crazy year. Crazier than 2008.