Senator Kerry - showing guts or building resume?

Yesterday the New York Times published this story about Senator John Kerry's attempt to muster last-minute support for a filibuster to stop the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Samuel Alito. While I'm all about stopping Judge Alito's confirmation, one has to wonder, as was suggested in the Times piece, if Senator Kerry was merely taking a stand in order build support amongst progressives for another run at the Presidency in 2008. It seemed a little strange that Senator Kerry would make such a bold move so late in the game when it was clear that very few would join his call for a filibuster.

Questionable motives aside, I applaud Senator Kerry's move to try and get a filibuster going. Any Democrat with an ounce of clear-headedness should be going out of their way to join Kerry and finally show some backbone when it counts. Senator Edward Kennedy is joining Kerry, but, predicably and tragically, many Democrats are quickly distancing themselves from Kerry on this issue. Senators Robert Byrd (West Virginia), Tim Johnson (South Dakota) and Ben Nelson (Nebraska) have all indicated that they will support Alito's confirmation. Pro-choice Republican Senator Arlen Specter will tow his party's line and vote to confirm, even though Judge Alito's record clearly indicates that he will likely vote to overturn Roe v. Wade if the opportunity presents itself.

The state of our union is truly grim, grim, grim...