Republicans killed the Supreme Court filibuster. But maybe they shouldn’t have?
All they have to do is change the rules back before the next election.
Won’t this encourage the Dems to do the same thing when they get control of the Senate?
Not when, but if.
In the short term, 2016 was the best opportunity for the Dems to retake the Senate. Have you seen the 2018 Senate map? That’s what I’d call a “Dems lose 5 seats” map. 2020 looks good for the Dems, but not good enough to come back from a deficit that big, so the earliest they need to worry about that is 2022. In the meantime, Republicans almost have enough legislatures to start monkeying with the Constitution directly, and repealing the 17th Amendment has always been a dare-to-dream Conservative longshot wishlist item. Once that’s done, the Dems can win all the votes they want in 2022 (and beyond) and still can’t take the Senate. It will be just like the House today, where all the pundits just assume it doesn’t matter how well the Dems do with the voters, the Republicans will retain control.