Looks like Reid thinks he's got the votes:
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) "declared an end Monday to compromise talks with Republican leaders over President Bush's controversial judicial nominees, saying their fate along with the future of long-standing filibuster rules will be settled in a showdown on the Senate floor," the AP reports.
It wouldn't surprise me if a few conscious Republicans have begun to believe a "no" vote is necessary to make the Senate work again. It'd surprise me even less if a few, like Hagel, thought that casting one would cement their reputations as great men of the demands of petty partisan politics, and that such a reputation will come in handy among a worn-out electorate tired of the constant battles and gridlock. Guess we'll find out soon enough.
