re: #475 jamesfirecat

So what adjective should I use?

The Democrats want to pass a bill. They need 60 people to over come a fillibuster which the Republicans have made clear they’ll do. The Democrats have about 55 senators who they know are willing to vote for cloture and five who are on the fence. Thus the Democrats must win over those five people’s votes for cloture if they want to get the bill passed.

If the alternative between winning Nelson/Liberman’s support is not getting a bill passed how would you describe the situation the democrats were in?

Unorganized, eating their own, incapable of leading, a sorry assed bunch… forced implies inability… they had the ability to pass this, they couldn’t do it, no one forced them to fail.