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The Democratic Strategist

Political Strategy for a Permanent Democratic Majority

Should Dems Implement the ‘Talking Filibuster’?

Ari Berman, Sam Stein and Steve Kornacki conduct an informative discussion with Sen. Jeff Merkley at MSNBC’s ‘NOW with Alex Wagner.’ Dems don’t yet seem to have the 51 votes needed for filibuster reform, or at least the “talking filibuster” Merkley is proposing in the clip below. Even some liberal Democratic Senators have reservations about changing the current filibuster rule, no doubt because they may wish they had it back, if the Republicans take control again — and Dems have an unusually-large number of seats they now hold up in 2014, compared to Republicans (20 vs 13). Still, as Majority Leader Harry Reid says in the clip below, he has faced 386 filibusters compared to 1 for Lyndon Johnson, when he was Majority Leader. Something needs to be done.

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