An e-mail:
I write this with all respect, but I think you’re being just a touch myopic in believing that the issue of judicial filibusters could ever have resonated with the general population. Most people-including intelligent, educated, folks who consider themselves to be politically aware-not only don’t know who Arlen Specter is, they don’t know what a filibuster is.
Whenever the question of the public’s knowledge of politics comes up, I always think of Orrin Hatch’s presidential campaign. Hatch recounted that he was “stunned” by how many people had never heard of him despite his years of ubiquity on Meet the Press and Face the Nation.
I pay far too much attention to this stuff myself, but I live and work in a city remote from D.C., and everyday I interact with professional people (lawyers, executives, etc) who couldn’t name a U.S. Senator unless the Senator (1) is a “star” (Kennedy, Hillary), (2) is from the person’s home state (and that’s spotty) or (3) has had some direct effect on the person’s business. I hear the words “Sarbanes-Oxley” (or maybe it’s just one word by now) around the office about as frequently as “good morning” but I’ll bet not a fifth of the folks who use it could tell you that Sarbanes is from Maryland.
ME: I’m totally with this fella, to an extent. Believe me, I don’t hear or have conversations about filibusters much outside the office, so to speak (the office being a nebulous thing when it is 2005 and you’re at a cybermag). But, as I argued in the summer a few times, the national campaign could have focused on personalities–Meet Bill Pryor….here’s what the Senate Democrats did to him. I don’t believe that wouldn’t have rallied people in a non-complicated kinda way. And then when you can easily tie basic unfairness like that to the top issues of the day: the war, the family…you’ve got a strong message.
It’s water under the bridge, but since the conversation started, just elaborating…
I still want to be completely wrong about Specter, for the record–I rather have good judges than be right.