You may have a point there, but it still does not answer my question.
What could the Republicans have done in the Senate to get Estrada confirmed that they did not or would not do?
I am looking for specifics here, not rhetoric.
As I said this is systemic breakdown in the Republican party. If the Republicans in the senate had brought on a real fillibuster, cloture would have failed. But it might have suceeded if Rove came off some money and went to the radio stations and coordinated an attack.
The failure was not just one thing or another, it was systemic. It wasn't the fog, the Panzers, the single lane road, or the bridge too far - it was a lack of will, a lack of leadership, a stingyness and lack of coordination. All of this is ultimately the President's job as head of the party.