Katherine Rizzo’s recent Wall St. Journal blog describes how, with the Democrats “tantalizingly close” to a filibuster-proof sixty-seat majority, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe will have more power and influence than ever:
Susan Collins and the other senator from her state, Republican Olympia Snowe go their own, moderate way so often that when GOP leaders are quizzed about being able to filibuster a bill, they tend to walk through the math by explaining how many votes they expect from core Republicans and what they expect from “the ladies from Maine.”
With Democrats tantalizingly close to the 60 votes they need to cut off filibusters, a lot of what happens in the next two years will depend on two things: the ability of Democrats to keep the majority together, and the willingness of Republican moderates to defect on crucial issues.
If the Democrats want to make another run at President George W. Bush’s restrictions on stem cell research, they’ll start by making sure the ladies from Maine haven’t changed their minds on the subject. Anything to do with habeas corpus rights? Once again – first stop, the ladies from Maine.
It will be fascinating to watch how Snowe and Collins use this “balance of power” position of theirs. One hopes they can be counted on to keep the Pelosi/Reid wing of the Democratic Congress in check. They may be the only thing between us and “card check” legislation, a return of the “fairness doctrine” and who knows what else…
