Chaffee will vote against Alito

Alito Sucks
Originally uploaded by Lindsay Beyerstein.

We're getting closer: Republican senator Lincoln Chafee says he will oppose Alito [Raw Story]

Comments

[Matt Austern]

Irrelevant unless he also votes for the filibuster. If Chaffee votes for cloture and then votes against Alito when it comes to a floor vote, then all it'll prove is that he's a member of what Matt Yglesias correctly calls the "fraud caucus": someone who pretends to be a moderate by making public pronouncements that aren't backed by words.

The cloture vote is the one that matters. Will Chaffee back up his claims to be pro-choice, or will he continue to be a reliable vote for the Republican right whenever they really need him?

[Thad]

Well, it's nice to have symbolic "bipartisanship," but the real test is whether he's on board for the filibuster. Otherwise, it's just typical catch and release from Chafee's GOP handlers -- they let him cast symbolic votes against the party so he can preserve his moderate cred, but only when his vote won't affect the outcome.

[Matt Austern]

Irrelevant unless he also votes for the filibuster. If Chaffee votes for cloture and then votes against Alito when it comes to a floor vote, then all it'll prove is that he's a member of what Matt Yglesias correctly calls the "fraud caucus": someone who pretends to be a moderate by making public pronouncements that aren't backed by meaningful acts.

The cloture vote is the one that matters. Will Chaffee back up his claims to be pro-choice, or will he continue to be a reliable vote for the Republican right whenever they really need him?

[Thad]

[xposted with Matt]

[Thad]

Chafee voted for cloture. Big surprise.

[Dave Collins]

Wrong place for this comment, but I read you are heading to Amsterdam...please investigate the Dutch squaters movement. It peaked in the early eighties, dated back to the sixies and has come back again. People power at work. much bigger than most American could imagine.