A Filibuster Response

How is this a win for any of them? The nominating base of the party, the conservatives, will not trust McCain. This fiasco only hurts him more. The conservatives will remember Frist's leadership failure to control and use a 56 member majority to advance their cause. And the President (if the reports in National review are accurate)loses four nominees without a fight: Saad, Myers, Kavanaugh and Haynes.

Point taken; but you underestimate John McCain. McCain would have won the nomination in 2000, had it not been for the misleading/negative/deceitful telemarketing calls into South Carolina that was bolstered by Bush's high profile visit to Robert Jones University. This is not a criticism of Bush, but the strategy back then was clear; Bush was losing the nomination and needed to throw some vicious attacks at McCain.

Besides, as 1992 indicated, the country may be ready for a 3rd Party President. McCain will run as a Republican, but do not underestimate his popularity with non-affiliated voters. If he loses the GOP nomination (likely), then he will run as an independent (likely), and possibly win (debatable).

As for Bill Frist, the nomination will be his if FL Governor Jeb Bush stays true to his word and does not run (unlikely).

As a conservative, I am a bit perplexed why our fellow Republicans/conservatives race to amend the constitution, or propose to change 200 years of rules, to fit the issue of the day?

As for the 4 abandoned judicial nominees? It is called governing, and conservatives need to prove we can govern if we expect to impact both our culture and the economy.