Waking Up To The Sound of Nancy Pelosi's Voice

Democrats will now control the House of Representatives. What does this mean for the Senate? It will mean that Democrat-authored bills will work their way through the Senate. There will be a hefty amount of cloture votes where Republicans in the Senate will now be voting against cloture, i.e. filibustering those bills emanating from the House.

It takes 60 votes to end debate on a bill in the Senate. Assuming there are 50 Democrats (Montana and Virginia are still undecided: Tester prolly takes MT while VA courts will be too much for Webb). In any event, there will be at least 50 Dems in the Senate, including Sanders (I-VT) and Lieberman (I-VT). To pass a cloture vote—geez, if the majority leader has to call for cloture, would a Republican majority leader even call for such a vote? So many questions—

Who would the sixty votes be, including 50 Dems? Republicans siding with Dems on certain issues could be:

Collins (ME), Snowe (ME), Specter (PA), McCain (AZ), Smith (OR)

And if you're talking trade, Dole (NC), Burr (NC), and Coburn (OK) have recent votes against free trade pacts.

Still, it looks to me like either side in the Senate could be stymied by the other. Republican leadership or filibustering can freeze anything coming from the House. And, Democrat leadership or filibustering can frustrate anything originating in the Senate. Even amendments, which need 50 votes, could be hard for either side if one Senator deviates from the party line.