Will The Democrats Have A Filibuster-Proof Senate?
About the Author: I am an ex-urbanite who escaped the city life and has lived for the past 27 years in a rural, mountainous area of Virginia that in colonial and early-American times was part of the "Backcountry." Politics: Democrat by tradition, but moderate-to-conservative views on most issues; I fit the description of "traditionalist." Please visit my Web site, Backcountry Notes, at http://www.backcountrynotes.com/ Read more from this author
The Democratic Party announced this spring a major drive to elect a “filibuster-proof” 60-seat-majority Senate. According to the recent Democratic National Committee newsfeeds, the DNC is confident of picking up six seats and hopeful of getting nine. Will that make a Democratic-controlled Senate “filibuster-proof?”
A sixty-seat majority is essential when there is a “cloture” vote. In order to bring a bill to a vote on the Senate floor, the proponents must carry a vote to close debate; otherwise, the opponents can filibuster indefinitely. A Republican-backed bill to rein in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mack before they bankrupted the country failed because the Republicans could not muster to 60 votes required to bring a bill to a vote, owing to unanimous Democratic opposition. If a bill cannot carry a “cloture” vote, it dies. So control of 60 seats is needed for a “filibuster-proof” majority.
Senators of the Democratic Party now hold 49 seats in the United States Senate; they exercise majority control because of an alliance with two independent Senators, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman. If the Democrats gain six Senate seats, then obviously they are short of a filibuster-proof majority, even with the independents. With nine additional seats, they have, in theory, the “magic number” of 60.
Since Bernie Sanders is very liberal, the Democrats can count on his continued support. Joe Lieberman is a different story. He was booted out of the Democratic Senate nomination in Connecticut and ran as an independent to retain his Senate seat. He is, as we have seen, a good friend of John McCain. Since he is the “sixtieth vote” the Democrats would need (assuming a 9-seat gain), Joe Lieberman may become the most sought-after vote in the Senate in the next Congress.
This would be most ironic, considering that Sen. Charles Schumer and other Senate Democrats are reported to be most unhappy with Lieberman, who supports John McCain.
# # #
