Sorry, I just could not resist; DeMint was so committed to preventing Obamas re-election before he was even inaugurated the first time that a second Obama term must be almost as crushing for him as for Romney. I am a bit bemused at this decisions timing, if not its nature. At first I thought he might be tiring of playing Tea Party kingmaker and want to play king instead. Yet staying in the Senate for at least another two years complaining about Obamas atheist Muslim communism would aid that end far better than four years largely on the sidelines and completely out of the headlines.

Maybe it truly is the simple knowledge his party, especially his far right wing of it, will be virtual Senate spectators the next four years. Their only remaining roles are voting "nay" on motions to end debate and vote, and doing their "best" to send us over the fiscal cliff while blaming it all on Obama (because that worked SO well last month, when Obama was re-elected, the GOP netted -2 Senate seats despite defending HALF as many and Congress' approval rating dropped to single digits.) Considering how badly the GOP blew two straight golden opportunities at a Senate majority, their uphill battle to net 6+ seats in 2014 looks hopeless.

As to the filibuster, I believe in it strongly, but also that voting to continue debate should require actually DEBATING. Talking bills to death is fine; simply showing up every few days to "vote against a vote" is mere obstructionism. The great thing about old style filibusters was focusing public attention on controversial/complex issues, usually producing a solid final consensus one way or the other. Flaws in bad bills were reiterated at length till everyone saw them; empty petty opposition to good bills was quickly exposed as such. Maybe the Civil and Voting Rights Act lacked a majority of public support when first read into the Congressional Record, but weeks of Strom Thurmond reading grannys biscuit recipe into that same record just to prevent blacks voting did wonders for clarifying justice in American minds.