Do It Right

Shorter TPM reader:

There are things the Republicans are doing that Democrats do need to emulate from the perspective of playing the political game.  Emulate them and them beat them at that game.

My point is this: Democrats can talk until they are blue in the face about how "unprecedented" this wave of Republican filibusters in historical terms, and most Americans won't have any idea what they are talking about. If Democrats demanded an "up or down vote" on individual issues because "elections have consequences", however, Dems would be appealing to Americans' basic sense of fairness while breaking through the beltway spin about needing a "super majority" to pass bills in the Senate. (After all, the notion that Democrats need a "super majority" fundamentally confuses what actually happens with a filibuster, during which a small number of senators prevents the full senate from even voting on a bill that would otherwise pass.)

When the concept of a filibuster is properly framed as a procedural roadblock employed by a small number of malcontent senators to prevent their colleagues - who won the last election - from voting, the public strongly disapproves. Why? Because even partisans agree that our democratic system should not permit a minority from grinding the government to a halt.

If I had to guess, senate Democrats (whose cowardice knows no bounds) are afraid to adopt the "up or down vote" attack is because they worry they will be called hypocrites when they are back in the minority and try to filibuster something. But the answer to this is simple: just look at the Republicans. Last I checked, the Republican senators who demanded an "up or down vote" on Roberts and Alito seem to be avoiding the "hypocrisy" label. Moreover, no matter how much Obama struggles, it's hard to imagine the Republicans fielding a decent presidential candidate in 2012. In other words, even if the Democrats do find themselves in the minority some time in the next six years, the need to filibuster will be greatly reduced as long as a Democrat holds the White House, where the more socially accepted form of obstructionism - the veto pen - will protect cowardly Dems from having to filibuster most Republican bills. 

Amen. It worked for them because it was simple.  It was a sound bite.  There's worthiness to that in the political world.  It's a valid tool in the toolbox, so use it, Dems.