Lamar Alexander Abandons GOP Obstructionists-- Will Vote To Confirm Sotomayor

Some felt it was remarkable that conservative Lindsey Graham (R-SC) voted to confirm Sonia Sotomayor on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Once Specter did his little fence jump though, it was inevitable. The Judiciary Committee rule says that at least one Republican has to vote "yes" on a nominee in order for the committee to send a recommendation to the full Senate. (This may have something to do with why not one single judge nominated by Obama has been confirmed so far.) Anyway, the Republicans secretly agreed internally that they had to put on a big anti-Sotomayor show for the drooling racist savages in their base but that they couldn't afford to actually block the nomination without risking sustained, perhaps even fatal damage at the polls. So someone on the committee had to take the political risk. The seven Republicans on the committee are all very right-wing: Jeff Sessions, the KKK member from Alabama, Orrin Hatch (UT), Chuck Grassley (IA), Jon Kyl (AZ), Graham, John Cornyn (TX) and Tom Coburn (OK). It was always a question of whether it would be Hatch, Grassley or Graham who would provide the one vote to let the nomination move forward.

Grassley begged out citing a tough re-election bid in 2010, and Hatch pointed out that his state's party has been taken over by teabagging radicals who have been replacing conservatives with extremists-- last year Chis Cannon was dumped for far right lunatic fringe Jason Chaffetz and this year Hatch's colleague Bob Bennett is facing political extermination at the hands of wingnut Mark Shurtleff. That left Graham who won't have to face the voters again until 2014.

But then today, just as the most conservative (and aisle-crossing) Democrat in the Senate, corporate shill Ben Nelson (NE) announced he might not vote for confirmation, up steps the first member of the Republican Senate Leadership Team, Conference Chair Lamar Alexander (TN) to announce that he's supporting confirmation. “I will vote to confirm her because she is well-qualified by experience, temperament, character and intellect to serve as an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court,” he said, also pointing out that her “political and judicial philosophy may be different than mine, especially regarding Second Amendment rights.”

Aside from Nelson there are a number of Democratic senators who have proven they have no backbone, particularly when it comes to standing up to the NRA, which is vigorously opposing Sotomayor. Worst among the Democratic cowards is Mark Begich, a freshman from Alaska, who has proven a terrible disappointment to the progressives who helped him narrowly defeat Ted Stevens last year.

Many eyes are now focused on John McCain-- who also faces the voters next year. The radical right kooks at the Moonie Times are demanding in an editorial today that he oppose confirmation. But as the somewhat savvier Hill pointed out this morning, McCain has been hiding out and ducking the issue-- and with good political reason: he's scared to move in either direction.

Somewhere, in his new life as a political hermit, Sen. John McCain must be grinding his teeth. Facing a primary challenge from the right in his campaign for reelection, McCain (R-Ariz.) has gone from spending nearly a decade as a hyper-exposed, perennial presidential candidate to being someone you can only find on Twitter.

But with a tough decision to make any day now, McCain will reluctantly do what he has avoided for so long: make news. This will happen when McCain announces his vote for or against the confirmation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court. Either choice will be surprising-- risk losing votes in a primary by supporting her, or risk losing votes in the general by alienating Hispanic voters in a purpling state where the Hispanic population is double the national average. President Barack Obama’s selection of Sotomayor was exactly the kind of complication McCain really didn’t need.

McCain’s attempt to woo Arizona Republicans is challenged by his maverick identity and long history of bucking his party. A founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps has announced his candidacy and criticized McCain for “reckless bailout spending” (he voted last fall for the Troubled Asset Relief Program) and a record of “opting to hold our nation’s border security hostage to his amnesty schemes.” So while McCain has spent time blasting Obama’s energy reform plans, his reaction to the election in Iran and his policies that have grown deficits and debt, he hasn’t spent much time keeping that promise he made on election night 2008: to “do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face.” Most notable is the absence of the bipartisan dealmaker in the midst of the brutal battle over healthcare reform.

Two of McCain's trusted gay pals, Lindsey Graham and Charlie Crist, have taken different positions on the Sotomayor nomination. With Graham voting yes, Crist-- under pressure from right-wing fanatic Marco Rubio-- has taken the gamble that Florida Latinos won't care that he's opposing the first Latina nominated to the Supreme Court. "Perhaps," speculates The Hill, "McCain is consulting with both Graham and Crist. We will learn soon-- likely by Tweet rather than a press conference-- which friend McCain is going to disagree with."

As of today 6 Republicans (not counting Arlen Specter)-- Olympia Snowe (ME), Susan Collins (ME), Dick Lugar (IN), Lindsey Graham (SC), Mel Martinez (FL) and Lamar Alexander (TN)-- have pledged to vote for confirmation. Many of the lunatic fringe extremists have already declared they will oppose confirmation, including the other 6 Judiciary Committee members, Jim DeMint, Jim Bunning (KY), Jim Inhofe (OK), Miss McConnell (KY), Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX), Thad Cochran (MS), Richard Burr (NC), Mike Johanns (NE), Sam Brownback (KS), Pat Roberts (KS), Bill Bennett (UT), Jim Risch (ID), Mike Crapo (ID), and of course, Richard Shelby (AL). Reactionary Democrats who play footsy with GOP interests who have not announced one way or the other-- aside from Begich and Nelson-- include Blanche Lincoln (AR), Mark Pryor (AR), Evan Bayh (IN), Tom Carper (DE), Max Baucus (apparently too busy thinking about how to wreck health care reform for his corporate donors to have even thought about the historic Supreme Court nomination), and Michael Bennet (CO). This afternoon, for example, 2 putative Democrats, both far right of the mainstream, voted for another obstructionist anti-Obama bill, this one offered by right-wing fanatic David Diapers Vitter. Who were the 2 miscreants-- Nelson, of course... and Blanche Lincoln, who apparently enjoyed the Blue America TV ads and is asking for more.

Today's Hotline guesses that Judd Gregg (NH), McCain, Kit Bond (MO), George Voinovich (OH), and John Ensign (NV) are the most likely to join the growing Republicans-for-Sotomayor Club and brave the overwrought hysteria of the Republican Party fringe. Ensign, though, they rate as "a longshot."

[T]he beleaguered Ensign has a little more than three years to rehabilitate his reputation before his re-election bid. Where to start: his conservative base, or the 25%-and-growing Hispanic population of his home state?

UPDATE: Amazing-- A Democratic Senator, More Or Less, Announces His Support For His President's Nominee

Break out the champagne! Looks like someone had a talk with that shithead Baucus. I guess killing health care is all he'll do for the Republicans this month.