WASHINGTON, May 16, 2005
Both Sides Claim Filibuster Edge
Several GOP Senators Still Undecided On Judicial Filibuster Ban
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Play CBS Video Video Filibuster Showdown To Spark The showdown over the Senate's judicial nominations and the Democrats' right to filibuster them could spark. CBS News' Joie Chen reports.
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Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., says he plans to call for a vote on two of President Bush's controversial judicial nominees later this week. (AP)
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Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter is one of a handful of Republican senators still on the fence on banning judicial filibusters. (AP)
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Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the Democrats' vote counter, told Fox that his party was united. He said he expected to pick up GOP support from some who have yet to signal their intentions.
"We feel that there are at least four Republican senators who feel as we do and we feel that there are several who are making up their minds at the last moment," Durbin said.
With time quickly running out, the fight for votes is getting very personal, reports CBS News Correspondent Joie Chen.
Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter is one of a handful of Republican senators still on the fence. And through TV spots in his home state, both sides are working hard to get his attention – and his vote.
Other names on make-or-break short list:
McConnell said that should negotiations fail and the vote to end a filibuster fall short, "I believe we will have the votes" to ban the use of filibusters against judicial nominees.
Others seemed to be holding out hope for an 11th-hour compromise.
"I believe that, as reasonable people, as we have in the past in the Senate, we should sit down together and work this out," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told ABC's "This Week."
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., appearing on CBS News' Face the Nation, said Democrats "should not accept a compromise that's going to silence and muzzle and gag a member of the United States Senate" from expressing an opinion about someone who is in line for a lifetime appointment to the federal judiciary.
©MMV, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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