Lancing the Senate Filibuster Boil

These Republican Senators are up for reelection two years from now. I mention this because already the rump of the Senate Republicans are promising to filibuster any Obama spending initiative, bi-partisan or not. A successful filibuster by the far right wing flies in the teeth of GOP moderates who would rather see their States prosper than tilt at windmills, so the threats are probably just post-election flatulence.

Richard Shelby of Alabama
Lisa Murkowski of Alaska
John McCain of Arizona
Mel Martinez of Florida
Johnny Isakson of Georgia
Mike Crapo of Idaho
Chuck Grassley of Iowa
Jim Bunning of Kentucky
David Vitter of Louisiana
Kit Bond of Missouri
Judd Gregg of New Hampshire
Richard Burr of North Carolina
George Voinovich of Ohio
Tom Coburn of Oklahoma
Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania
Jim DeMint of South Carolina
John Thune of South Dakota
Bob Bennett of Utah

Likely targets for replacement include Judd Gregg, Kit Bond, Arlen Specter, Mel Martinez and the increasingly antediluvian John McCain. Doesn't matter if these guys are evil or not, just vulnerable.

Frankly, I expect McCain to slide out of his mood indigo funk around Valentine's Day and announce his retirement. That'll make things easier.

Oh, yeah — no post-election analysis here, except to say that most of McCain's 56 million votes probably came from moderates, maybe even more than half. The rest of 'em are thugs, scamps and hillbilly "NRA members," to use the polite term. Except... I loved the way Sarah Palin kept edging toward the microphone during McCain's concession speech. Anybody else notice that?