POLITICS - More on the "Scab" Jim Bunning

"Inside 'Bunning-Gate': How The Democrats Brought Bunning Around" by Evan McMorris-Santoro, TPM 3/3/2010

Despite outward appearances that Sen. Jim Bunning's (R-KY) filibuster of the unemployment benefits extension was partisan gridlock at its worst, Democratic sources tell TPMDC that the Bunning's one-man government shutdown actually united partisans on both sides toward a common goal: breaking the filibuster. Democrats are calling the affair "Bunning-gate."

According to Democratic sources in the Senate, Republicans were pressuring Bunning behind the scenes to relent on his filibuster -- even as many Republicans seemed uninterested in saying so publicly. But Bunning's relationship with his party isn't exactly rosy, so the Republican appeals had no effect.

In the end, the Democrats ended the standoff by promising Bunning votes they say he knows he will lose: first came his amendment to the unemployment bill, which failed last night. There's more coming, say Democratic sources -- the party agreed to allow more of his legislation to reach the floor, even though everyone knows the bills are doomed to fail.

Exactly what's in the additional Bunning bills is not yet known. But the deal shows "Bunning-gate" will have longer legacy than just last night's vote on the floor. Bunning originally blocked a unanimous consent resolution that would have passed the 30-day extension on the bill because he said its estimated $10 billion pricetag would add to the deficit.

He relented on his hold after Democrats allowed a vote on his amendment to pay for the bill with stimulus money. Last night, that amendment failed on a procedural vote.

More votes shooting down Bunning's legislation are likely ahead for the Senate, thanks to the deal Democrats cut with the irascible Kentucky Republican.

"He had to have something to make him back down," a top Democratic Senate aide told TPMDC.