Other than that…

I only have one reservation about Joel Connelly's ringing defense of Senator Cantwell against, in his words, the "'Hey Hey, Ho Ho' crew." I'm not one to cast Maria to the wolves over the symbolic filibuster launched against Samuel Alito, but Joel's just got it wrong...

Several Democratic precinct caucuses have upbraided her for refusing to back a filibuster against confirming Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.

The "filibuster" was launched out of the blue by Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. Was he in Washington, D.C., to lobby colleagues? Nope. Kerry e-mailed the filibuster call from Davos, Switzerland, as he attended the World Economic Forum. Cantwell voted against Alito after refusing to join the pointless publicity stunt.

In fact, the filibuster was discussed by Senator Kerry and others in caucus before he left for a previously scheduled appearance on a panel at the World Economic Forum. Senator Kennedy took the point in Kerry's absence, and Kerry scheduled a red-eye flight so that he could return and pick up the reigns.

Though it wasn't out of the blue, it wasn't a caucus sponsored filibuster. There was no partisan obligation to support it, and Kerry didn't publicly attack those who, for whatever reason, didn't join him. He simply fulfilled a longstanding pledge to join, and if necessary to lead, a filibuster against a Supreme Court nomination he viewed as a threat to the privacy rights protected by Roe.

Maria's vote against confirmation was definitive, and carried every bit as much symbolic value, as a filibuster vote would have. Frankly, there are practical political considerations that sometimes must override sentiment, and I think Maria was well advised to avoid opening yet another channel of attack from the right. It's a petty that there are so many on the left who seem so eager to fill the void with attacks of their own.

Carefully reading Joel's piece might give some of Maria's attackers pause, but I hope he's more careful with his legislative history in the future.

(It's worth noting, too, that in the context of our recent off-year administrative caucuses, "several Democratic precinct caucuses" means, in essence, "several Democrats.")