I guess I fall somewhere between J Pod and Levin — the era of centrism indeed! I despise the assumptions behind the deal (see today’s column), but I’m coming around to the view that the Democrats come out of this less rosy than it seemed at first blush. Moreover, I take Mark and Andy’s view to be the correct one that there’s no way to deny this has all been unfair to the nominees themselves. But I’m not sure I get some of Mark’s points at the end. Who cares where the Democratic base goes in this context if some of their Senators vote against them? Is it really so bad to have the conservative base mad at Bill Frist?