I suppose I am at that. I have great faith in this country and its system of government — even if that faith is that a lot of the processes are going to be maddening. (I’m reminded of what Churchill said about democracy being the worst form of government, except for all the others.)

But if I’m going to pay to see Mitch McConnell bitten, it’d have to be by rabid weasels.

whabs, you must never have heard of IOKIYAR (It’s ok if you’re a Republican); it absolves them from everything.

I skimmed the VF article. I have very little appetite for La Palina these days. The fact that she is still considered a major candidate for 2012 (along with Ratface Pawlenty) depresses the hell out of me.

Speaking of centrist Republicans — I keep forgetting there is such an animal — I also wonder if the Magic 60 makes GOP party discipline a little less effective, and good old fashioned horse trading a little more likely. If the so-called “60 vote requirement to pass legislation” is more or less a given, and Republican obstructionism less effective, maybe Snowe or one of the few others might be induced to actually support the kind of mildly progressive legislation the Democratic Senate is likely to produce.

I don’t either, given the Blue Dogs and Reid’s obvious weakness. But having the potential for 60 votes, I think, gives the Democrats a lot less cover. It didn’t matter all that much if Evan Bayh voted with the Republicans on cloture if the Democrats didn’t have 60 even with Bayh’s vote. But now, Bayh’s vote is going to matter. He’ll probably demand goodies for the companies his wife helps run, but on the other hand, if Bayh or one of the other Blue Dogs blows a key vote, they can’t blame the Republicans for the failure, and so there could be more pressure on. I just wish I could see Reid really applying that pressure.

Still, it’s always better to have one steady progressive vote than have to bargain for a shaky centrist or Republican vote.

Exactly.

Alex, more and more buzz out of MN is that Coleman has his eye on the governor’s job, so he had to bow out now.

Greg, I don’t see 60 as a done deal, not given how the Blue Dawgs vote. Still, it’s always better to have one steady progressive vote than have to bargain for a shaky centrist or Republican vote.

I do think it’s a shame that Reid seems to be more preoccupied with keeping Mitch McConnell happy than members of his own party and caucus.

Which makes now a lot more interesting — now Reid technically doesn’t need a single Republican vote to overcome their routine obstructionism (or as the so-called “liberal media” calls it, the 60-vote requirement for getting legislation passed) as long as the Dems hold together, so any failures are going to be squarely on him.

That is, they already were, but it’ll be a lot harder to shrug and blame the Republicans.

I’m a little surprised Norm didn’t keep fighting… but maybe he recognized that he was ultimately just hurting himself (or maybe the national GOP finally decided to cut their losses).