Democrats aim for Senate with filibuster-proof majority
November 15, 2008

by Joseph P. Tartaro
Executive Editor

Some people say “close” only counts in horseshoes. But they overlook the other area where “close” can count for a lot: politics.

In politics, a majority percentage of 50+1 is not the only way to win. In some states, all it takes is a simple plurality. That’s how most of the electoral votes are counted, because there are over a dozen independent candidates running, in addition to McCain and Obama.

While the media and the voting public have been focused almost exclusively on the presidential race, which will be decided just eight days after this issue goes to press, there are a lot of other races of equal, if not even greater, importance. These are the elections which will decide who controls the House and Senate on Capitol Hill, as well as local and state races where the party in power sets the agenda and, if it has the votes, enacts any measure it wants.

Here in New York state where the Gun Week office is located, Democrats are salivating at the prospect of taking majority control of the state Senate for the first time in generations. Democrats control the governor’s office and have their traditional lock on the state Assembly. However, since the GOP’s grip on the Senate has narrowed to two seats, the Democrats are focusing all their financial, patronage and prestige artillery into beating just three veteran Republican senators and winning an open seat just down the road from our offices.

If they succeed, they will have absolute control of state government—the governorship and both house of the legislature. The Republican state Senate has often been the gatekeeper preventing final passage of most of the anti-gun legislation that the Democrat Assembly rubber stamps every year. This is true even though many Democrats in the Assembly and Senate may be supporters of firearms civil rights. It’s just that there are not enough of them to offset the New York City anti-gun Dems.

In microcosm, that is also close to the situation on the national scene. The Democrats have controlled both the US Senate and the US House for the past two years, but now they see an opportunity to gain a veto-proof, filibuster-proof super-majority in the Senate, with what the polls tell them is a good chance of gaining the White House.

They are using the prospect of such domination in Washington to solicit even more money from enrolled Democrats and big donors than they have already harvested during this campaign cycle.

Curiously, the name of the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee’s (DSCC) chairman, Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, is not as visible in this fund-raising effort as that of the ailing Lion of the Left, Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.

Reid and Kennedy have been the ones making the case for additional contributions in emails to fellow Democrats and left-leaning independents because they see “the immense promise of the moment.”

The one-two punch e-blast from Kennedy and Reid makes it very clear that they want to win 60 Senate seats on Nov. 4. At present, they have a 51-49 majority, with two of their supporters being independents who caucus with them—Sens. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

Sixty votes represents an operating majority in the Senate, given rules that allow a minority of as few as 41 of the 100 senators to indefinitely delay action on almost any matter through the legislative maneuver known as the filibuster.

Such a super-majority would make it far easier to confirm judges nominated by a President Obama and push through a Democratic agenda—or to force a President McCain to work with Democrats in installing judicial nominees and top government officials.

In practice, a 60-member Democratic caucus—or even a 58- or 59-seat majority—wouldn’t mean having enough votes to head off filibusters and force through all of the Democrats’ legislative agenda or block a Republican president’s program, but they could always shop for a few liberal Republican votes if they lose some of their Democrat support on certain issues, such as gun control.

Guns might not be the first concern of such a Democratic sweep of the reins of power in Washington, but their gun agenda would certainly surface in a few months.

Reid and Kennedy promise that a “filibuster-proof majority puts everything Democrats believe in within reach.” They list as priorities: “an economy that rewards the middle class, universal health care, and an end to the war in Iraq.” Those few words represent a very broad social and political agenda, and right now, Reid and Kennedy see it “within reach:” absolute power.

The Democrat leaders are not the only ones who see such an opportunity knocking. ABC News journalists Alex Green and Rick Klein reported on this election tsunami on Oct. 14.

“An increasingly hostile national climate for Republicans has shaken up Senate races across the nation, giving Democrats a plausible shot at achieving 60 seats—a filibuster-proof majority that would embolden policy ambitions in Congress,” they noted.

ABC’s writers even offered their take on which races are in play. There are, by the way, 35 Senate seats up for grabs in 33 states; two states feature races for both Senate seats. The Democrats are focusing heavily on North Carolina, where they see incumbent Elizabeth Dole as very vulnerable in a historically “red” state that could go “blue.”

Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign is pumping late get-out-the-vote resources into the Tar Heel State, in its efforts to expand the presidential map. And Democrats are engaging in an aggressive effort to paint Dole as a political insider who has lost touch with her constituents.

The ABC journalists said polls suggest that Republican-held seats in Virginia and New Mexico are as good as gone for the GOP, with the prospects in Colorado and New Hampshire only marginally better. They also cited Sen. Ted Stevens’s race in Alaska as at risk, and said that Senate races in Mississippi and Georgia are far tighter than Democrats ever anticipated and even Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is in a dogfight to keep his Kentucky job.

They also suggested that Sen. Norm Coleman was in trouble in the Minnesota contest with comedian-turned-political activist Al Franken, and that in Oregon, Sen. Gordon Smith is reportedly even with Democrat Jeff Merkley.

The Reid-Kennedy emails, however, see the likely promise of victories in a slightly different mix of states: Mississippi, Georgia and Kentucky are on their list. So are Alaska, North Carolina and Colorado.

But looking at all the economic bad news which seems to be driving the presidential campaign, the prospects are not good for Republicans, at the top of the ticket, at the middle or near the bottom. The domestic and global economic problems are certainly not the problems of just the Republicans. The Democrats are also hip-deep in the financial swamp, in part because their social agenda has been responsible for most of the housing and mortgage disaster, and in part because they have done absolutely nothing about it while they had workable majorities in both house of Congress.

How you, your family, your friends and co-workers vote on Nov. 4 is your individual private business. However, there is a very good chance that when you wake up on Nov. 5, you could be looking at a vastly different government in Washington, or even in your state capital.

Use the last days before the election getting as well informed about all of the candidates as you can. Then be sure that you cast your informed vote so it counts.
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