The American Spectator : The Spectacle Blog : Barone Says No Filibuster-Proof Senate

The Spectacle Blog

Barone Says No Filibuster-Proof Senate

By W. James Antle, III on 10.30.08 @ 6:45PM

At least not technically. Michael Barone predicts that the Democrats will end up with 58 Senate seats after next Tuesday’s elections, though even that will probably be enough to stop most filibusters. (Remember that the safest Republican with a serious Democratic opponent is Susan Collins, who will be helpful on some filibusters but not many.) The only race where I disagree with him is Norm Coleman in Minnesota. I wouldn’t guarantee a Coleman loss, but I think his chances are weaker than Gordon Smith’s in Oregon. So if I’m right and John Sununu doesn’t pull off an upset, that would leave the Democrats at 59 seats and the Republicans in pretty much the same situation of occasional filibustering.

topics:
Election 2008

About the Author

W. James Antle, III, author of the new book Devouring Freedom: Can Big Government Ever Be Stopped?, is editor of the Daily Caller News Foundation and a senior editor of The American Spectator. You can follow him on Twitter @jimantle.

http://spectator.org/blog/2008/10/30/barone-says-no-filibuster-proo

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