{"id":4061,"date":"2005-04-26T10:56:00","date_gmt":"2005-04-26T14:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com\/archives\/4061.html"},"modified":"2005-04-26T10:56:00","modified_gmt":"2005-04-26T14:56:00","slug":"why-reid-would-offer-frist-a-deal-he-could-refuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/why-reid-would-offer-frist-a-deal-he-could-refuse\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Reid would offer Frist a deal he could refuse"},"content":{"rendered":"

Senate Dem leader Harry Reid, as you’ve no doubt heard, unveiled a compromise solution<\/a> to the judicial nominee standoff late yesterday afternoon. I’m afraid it’s not a great deal for Dems.<\/p>\n

Maneuvering in advance of a Senate floor showdown on judicial nominees intensified Monday as Senate Democrats prepared a compromise offer to Republicans that would allow votes on some judges and showcased new tactics for confronting Republicans should filibusters be barred.<\/p>\n

Congressional officials said Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, could make a proposal as early as Tuesday to allow votes on two of three Michigan nominees for a single appeals court. It could be coupled with other guarantees to Republicans, potentially including a vote on one of four candidates drawing the deepest opposition. In return, the majority would have to forswear any rules changes that prevented filibusters.<\/p>\n

“There is a way to avoid the nuclear shutdown, and I’m working with my colleagues to put that plan in place,” Mr. Reid said in a statement issued Monday evening, though he and his aides refused to provide details.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The details are sketchy, but Reid’s offer gives Republicans up-or-down votes on a few ridiculous nominees — exactly who and how many is unclear — while Dems get assurances that the nuclear option is off the table altogether.<\/p>\n

On the surface, this seems like an all-around bad deal for the Dems, who by all indications, are winning the overall fight and have less of an incentive to strike a compromise that helps the GOP. I suspect, however, there’s more to this strategy than first meets the eye.
\n
\nThere has to be a reason for Reid to come to the table with this kind of idea right now. I was on a conference call with Reid yesterday and he showed absolute confidence in this fight, without a hint of reservation or willingness to back down. It doesn’t make sense of Reid to turn around, a few hours later, to offer a deal that benefits the other side.<\/p>\n

To be sure, this isn’t an offer that reflects a strong position. The Republicans would get what they want most (right-wing judges on the bench), while Dems would get what they already have (the ability to filibuster). What kind of compromise is that?<\/p>\n

As luck would have it, it’s the kind of deal that Frist can’t accept. And Reid knows it.<\/p>\n

Almost immediately after Reid’s offer was made public, Karl Rove dismissed it<\/a>, saying judicial filibusters still had to be eliminated. Indeed, that’s exactly what Bill Frist had to be thinking as well. The Majority Leader has just promised every far-right group, leader, and activist in America that he’s going to execute the nuclear option, and his top deputy (Whip Mitch McConnell) has boasted<\/a> of having the votes to pull it off.<\/p>\n

As Josh Marshall noted<\/a>, Frist can’t very well call James Dobson now and tell him the whole plan is shot. Dobson and his cohorts have told Frist what they want — unless Frist plans to give up his presidential campaign before it starts, he can’t accept a compromise now.<\/p>\n

So, why would Reid offer a plan at all? Because there’s nothing but upside to appearing flexible. Reid can tell wavering GOP moderates (Specter, Collins, Hagel, maybe Warner) that he’s trying to negotiate and offer Frist a deal that clears the way for more Bush nominees — but Frist won’t listen. Reid also gets the positive press that comes along with being the first one to offer a solution to the stalemate.<\/p>\n

At least, I hope<\/i> that’s what’s happening. In this chess game, it’s sometimes hard to guess everyone’s competing motivations, but I still have a hunch that Reid is pushing Frist into an increasingly difficult spot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Senate Dem leader Harry Reid, as you’ve no doubt heard, unveiled a compromise solution to the judicial nominee standoff late yesterday afternoon. I’m afraid it’s not a great deal for Dems. Maneuvering in advance of a Senate floor showdown on judicial nominees intensified Monday as Senate Democrats prepared a compromise offer to Republicans that would […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[617],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4061"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4061\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}