Losing in overtime

National | JUDICIARY: Senate GOP's judicial marathon ends with two more nominees stalled—and Republicans unwilling to close ranks behind a maneuver to stop the blockade

Filibuster (noun): Informal term for any attempt to block or delay Senate action on a bill or other matter by debating it at length, by offering numerous procedural motions, or by any other delaying or obstructive actions.

The Senate's online glossary emphasizes the at-length debate component of the definition of filibuster, but in practice, today's filibuster is more likely to major on "other" types of obstruction. So Republicans called Democrats' bluff: If they're going to filibuster President Bush's key nominees to the federal courts, they'd best be ready to debate at length.

For 40 hours.

They debated all day and all night and then some. But in the end, GOP strategists frustrated by Senate Democrats' procedural blockade of key judicial appointments measured success by newspaper editorials: According to a tally kept by the Senate Republican Policy Committee, as of the first week in November only 46 editorials in 21 papers supported Senate filibusters of the judges. By contrast, 277 editorials published in 118 newspapers nationwide opposed the tactic.