Why Is Reid Peddling a Compromise?

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid has stood firm against Republican threats of using the nuclear option, he’s kept the Democrats united behind him, and across the spectrum the American people disapprove of the Republican maneuver. So why is he looking to make a deal? Josh Marshall has some speculation. It’s hard to tell from the outside, and maybe Reid does know what he’s doing, but we’ve seen too many instances of the Democrats giving away the store to feel confident about it.

In his defense, Reid's rhetoric doesn’t sound like he’s caving. In a press release on his website yesterday, he commented on his party’s blocking of 10 out of Bush’s 215 judicial nominations (the other 205 have all been confirmed).

Apparently, that 95 percent confirmation rate--better than the last three presidents--is not enough for George Bush. They want more…even if it means shattering the checks and balances in our government in order to put radical, right-wing judges on the bench. [Ellipses his.]

We don’t have a judicial crisis in this country. We recently saw the lowest vacancy rate on our courts in 14 years. What we have is a Republican party abusing its power in an attempt to stack the courts.

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As I was putting this entry together, I came across Frist’s response to Reid’s offer of compromise: “The answer to that is no.” So Frist refuses to back down from doing something only the religious right wants, and Reid appears more reasonable, his attempt to meet Frist somewhere in the middle rebuffed. Maybe the Democrats have an actual strategy after all.

UPDATE: Edited to correct Reid's title.