Kevin Drum  Dreaming of a Majoritarian Congress  | Sat Nov. 23,
2013 9:24 AM GMT  Martin Longman wonders what the Senate will be
like if, eventually, the filibuster on legislation is
eliminated. First he notes that the Employee Free Choice Act got
the support of every single Democrat in 2007, when everyone knew
it was doomed anyway thanks to a Republican filibuster, but
suddenly lost several votes in 2009, when a big Democratic
majority and a Democratic president meant that it actually had a
chance of passage:  This is the kind of dynamic that is altered
by eliminating the filibuster. Hiding behind cloture votes
enables you to support things your base wants but that you think
are too politically perilous to support if they might actually
become law. Blanche Lincoln (D-Walmart) was pro-union when it
didn't count, and the Waltons were okay with that…wink, wink,
nod, nod.  In the new Senate, particularly if the legislative
filibuster soon succumbs, there will many fewer of these free
votes, and imperiled senator