Senator Reid may not be in a position in 2011 to lead on reforming Senate filibuster rules. He first must get re-elected and that is looking too good and then his party must win a majority in the Senate and even that is looking too good either. The Democrats have no public relations sense. Why would you even be advancing curtailing of debate, when you control the presidency, and both houses of Congress with high majorities. What more do you want? The Democrats have it all and they still cannot get anything done. The problem is NOT with Republicans it is with Democrats who refuse to join fellow Democrats in “lock step”. To run on a platform that contains a further silencing on the minority is a flawed strategy and doomed to fail. For Harry Reid to even suggest it shows how completely and utterly out of touch he is from political reality. This will only seek to rally Republicans and outrage conservative Democrats and Independents.

Bradley A. Blakeman served as deputy assistant to President George W. Bush from 2001-04. He is currently a professor of Politics and Public Policy at Georgetown University. A frequent Fox Forum contributor he is president of Kent Strategies LLC.