Trust in Harry Reid

Harry Reid has threatened to grind the legislative process to a halt if the Republicans invoke the "nuclear option" on judicial filibusters. Republicans have tried to scare the Democrats into thinking that doing so will make them look even more like obstructionists over an obscure point of parliamentary procedure. But look what his threat has produced (from The Hill):

Worried that their agenda will come to a screeching halt, business leaders are urging Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) not to exercise a bold parliamentary tactic known as the "nuclear option" on judicial nominees.

Industry lobbyists and association heads so far have avoided taking a public role as the debate over stalled judicial nominations escalates. Instead, they are relying on one-on-one conversations with Senate leaders, comments in meetings on other subjects, and staff contacts. But, according to multiple sources on K Street, the employer community has concluded that, whatever its merits, the nuclear option is not worth the price of imperiling the GOP's legislative agenda.

Reid's threat looks serious. Serious enough to cause the otherwise uninterested business community to get involved in this fight. Business lobbyists couldn't give a crap about the culture war, just so long as it doesn't impact the bottom line.

Reid is playing one side of the Republican coalition against the other. Point to Harry if it works.