Of course the world would be a better and fairer and wiser place if every qualified conservative judge sailed through the Senate. But that didn’t happen, and politics requires parties to deal with what is happening. The end-the-filibuster rule change was a radical step, and it’s better not to take radical steps except in the most extreme circumstances because you have no clue what the fallout will be. People of conviction hate compromise, which is why there are so few people of conviction in politics.

And take care, Mark, on the “this has infuriated the base” argument. We have no idea whether that’s true. It has infuriated conservative leaders and talk-show hosts, but there’s absolutely no way of knowing yet how actual voters in the tens of millions feel. My guess is that 90 percent of them don’t know what “cloture” is.