...it's only good for the Democrats.
That's what polling leaked to the Associated Press seems to indicate. The "nuclear option" is a public relations fiasco:
Private Republican polling shows scant support for a plan to stop minority Democrats from blocking judicial nominees, officials said Thursday, as two of President Bush's most controversial appointments advanced toward a possible Senate confrontation.This is what happens when you let James Dobson and the Family Research Council set the agenda. That whole Schiavo debate worked so well for the GOP, too. All the polls then showed very strong public opposition to the intervention of Bush and Congress. The impact is still being felt:
These officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a recent survey taken for Senate Republicans showed 37 percent support for the GOP plan to deny Democrats the ability to filibuster judicial nominees, while 51 percent oppose.
Additionally, the survey indicated only about 20 percent of Americans believe the Republican statement that Bush is the first president in history whose court appointees have been subjected to a filibuster, a tactic in which opponents can prevent a vote unless supporters gain 60 votes. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity, noting the survey data has not been made public.
Republican strategists concede their efforts to swing public opinion behind their move suffered in the wake of congressional intervention in the case of Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged woman in Florida who was being kept alive with a feeding tube.The GOP is so beholden to the extreme right wing, they are stuck with them. Let's just hope that Frist and Santorum keep the radical right in the driver's seat.
