I see it a little differently.stevie_d_64 wrote:Another aspect of this that provides a little context...
The last election where the Republicans lost the majority in both houses was (in my opinion) not so much what some would want you to believe was due to the Iraq War...
It was more that the contigent of Republican voters either stayed out of the election and didn't vote for the usual RINO's, or shifted to a more Libertarian lean in political philosophy...
Some of it was due to Iraq. Some was due to a couple of corruption scandals that broke (and were amplified by the media) shortly before the election. But a lot of it was due to the Democrats running (relatively) conservative candidates in conservative states.
So you got Webb and Tester in the Senate and Schuler and a few others in the House. These guys might be pro-gun, but they gave the Democrats a majority which resulted in a group of SENIOR Democrats getting installed as committee chairman.
And almost every one of these guys is rated "F". They set the agenda. They determine which bills get debated and voted on.
And with a Senate majority, they have veto power over federal judges.
So even if Stevens or Ginsberg retired, there's almost no chance we could get someone like Roberts or Alito to replace them. We'd probably get stuck with another Souter.