Kerry Calls for Filibuster on Alito - MoveOn Pulls the Strings

John Kerry has taken his blogging position at Kos seriously. He is listening to his handlers and calling for a filibuster as they have bid. Per CNN:

Sen. John Kerry will attempt a filibuster to block the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. "Judge Alito's confirmation would be an ideological coup on the Supreme Court," Kerry said in a written statement explaining his support for a filibuster. "We can't afford to see the court's swing vote, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, replaced with a far-right ideologue like Samuel Alito."

Kerry made his filibuster announcement from Davos, Switzerland (perfect - very fitting). JK was in Switzerland for the World Economic Forum and was working the phones in an attempt to gain support for his filibuster call. Senator Ted Kennedy (Kerry's sponsor) is in, but it appears the rest of the Dem pack are concerned about the move (I hate to say it but - good instincts). CNN is reporting that Alito has 55 Republicans and 3 Dems so he is at 58 now. To beat a filibuster Alito would need the support of 60 Senators. That said there is always the nuclear option of removing the filibuster which the Republicans reportedly have, and Alito appears to merit applying per the definition that was established by a bi-partisan group of Senators who established it. The current wisdom is that Alito has the 60 votes and this is a show move.

It would seem that John Kerry has the blessing of MoveOn and is their candidate for 2008 early on. He seems to have the support of Howard Dean, Soros Joe Trippi & the Eli Pariser gang that "Bought the Democrat Party", per Pariser's own comment given to Rolling Stone Here

"It's our Party," MoveOn's twenty-four-year-old executive director, Eli Pariser, declared in an e-mail. "We bought it, we own it and we're going to take it back." The group's new goal is sweeping in its ambition: To make 2006 a watershed year for liberal Democrats in Congress, in the same way that Newt Gingrich led a Republican revolution in 1994.

But many party insiders worry that an Internet insurgency working hand in hand with a former Vermont governor will only succeed in pushing the party so far to the left that it can't compete in the red states. "It's electoral suicide," says Dan Gerstein, a former strategist for Joe Lieberman's presidential campaign.

Well Gerstein was right and they are very left. The Owners of the DNC now have a base that is flat out bananas and think that Hillary is too conservative (I know - try to control the laughter). Don't believe it? Well check this out per Kos (12/18/05) who is an extension of sorts of MoveOn (they won't like that classification) and the top lefty website:

Hillary is doing what she needs to do, after years of being pilloried by the right she is distancing herself from the base (the special-interest groups). It's a strategy that makes a lot of sense...for her. But it is not a strategy that makes a lot of sense for us. We want to swing the pendulum back further than the centrism of Bill Clinton and the DLC. We think conditions are ripe for a big backlash against the GOP. But, we will not see that backlash unless the contrasts between our policies and Bush's policies are made as stark and obvious as possible. Hillary is not the right vehicle for that.

Kerry & Ted are looking like the stooges to do the MoveOn bidding on this one, and I would not be surprised if Dean or a like politician dropped in with the Owners approval after Kerry serves his practical purpose. It's red meat for the hard left. I think the Owners will use John for all he is worth and then toss him aside. 2004 showed he is not the horse that is going to win the race for the new Owners.

It should be fun to watch the DNC convention in Boston, well at least it is in Kerry's and Ted's home turf. Based on what we are seeing right now, if the DLC supported candidate is still alive and has any standing (I know the DLC is extreme but we are working in degrees here), it could be a slight repeat of the 1968 Chicago Convention. Enjoy Boston......................