Consensus congealing

Fred Barnes joins the Coalition of the Chillin’:

When the agreement on judicial nominations was struck in May by seven Republican and seven Democratic senators, many conservatives agreed with Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid that it was a victory for Democrats. They were wrong. Since the agreement, the three prime targets of Democrats--Priscilla Owen, Janice Rogers Brown, William Pryor--have all been confirmed, plus two other less controversial nominees. And more conservatives are in the confirmation pipeline. So while Bush's chances of creating personal investment accounts [for Social Security] have faded, his goal of shifting the ideological tilt of the federal judiciary is closer at hand.

Barnes notes that the feckless tactics of Harry Reid and the senseless antics of Howard Dean are just icing on the cake.