1. Democratic Senators took to the Senate floor this afternoon to speak on the blockaded D.C. Circuit Court nominations. This is a huge issue, and it’s not going to go away. Here’s Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) talking to Dave Weigel about how and why Democrats may move to change the rules to put an end to these kinds of blockades.
2. Steven Dennis: “Senate R strategy on judicial noms would create new precedent: Nullification of existing positions via filibuster.” Yup. Which seems more like “court packing”: filling existing vacancies, or changing the size of the court to preserve a particular ideological balance?
3. Norm Ornstein points out the truth: Republican filibuster abuse threatens the Senate.
4. Steve Benen notes that finally, at the end of the ENDA “debate,” one lone opponent was willing to go to the Senate floor and speak against the bill that many Republicans opposed. Benen was not impressed.
5. Will a large minimum-wage increase be next up in the Senate? If Tom Harkin gets his way, yes. Alexander Bolton reports.
7. I generally agree with Reid Wilson’s case for why Chris Christie is a bit overrated right now as presidential nomination candidate.
8. With one exception: Hey, everyone, stop comparing Christie and Rudy Giuliani.
9. Yes, Ed Kilgore has this right: Easy procedural fixes in nomination procedures aren’t going to prevent Republicans from choosing tea party candidates.
10. Also, David Frum is right: Nothing that happened on Tuesday will persuade any Republican faction to back down.
11. Big scoop from Sarah Posner about who George W. Bush is raising money for.
12. Robert Stein on “how to weather-proof elections.”
13. Why does ethnicity affect perceptions about the value of a college education? Ron Brownstein digs in.
14. And Dan Drezner on what happens to conservative ideameisters revealed as frauds. It’s not exactly punishment.
