 The agreement may have affected the likelihood that a Senate minority would defeat subsequent nominations to the U.S. Supreme Court (e.g., the nominations of John Roberts and Samuel Alito).Such a defeat by a filibustering Senate minority could have become "less likely" if the so-called "nuclear option" had been successful, but such a defeat could have become "more likely" if the nuclear option had been voted down.On February 28, 2000, during his presidential primary campaign, McCain sharply criticized leaders of the religious right as "agents of intolerance" allied to his rival, Governor George W. Bush, and denounced what he said were the tactics of "division and slander."