Howard Fineman of Newsweek has a great article on Alito titled "The Alito Schism." It's definitely worth an entire read. Excerpt:
A top Democratic strategist tells me he now expects no more than a handful of Dems—eight at the max—to end up voting for Alito. I think it could be fewer. Remember, there are currently 55 Republicans, 44 Democrats and one independent in the Senate. We may well be headed for a “nuclear option” showdown, in which a Democrat would filibuster the floor debate on Alito.
Would the Republican leadership be able to muster the 60 votes needed, including a handful of Democrats, to shut it off? Not clear.
Would the GOP then go ahead and try to end debate with 51 votes, as opposed to the deeply traditional 60? Yes, I think the GOP would. That's the “nuclear” part.
The question must still be asked: How will Tim Johnson vote?
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