The Waterkooler

The battle lines for the confrontation will be largely set after today, when the Judiciary Committee is expected to vote to send two of President Bush's more controversial nominees for the federal bench to the Senate floor for confirmation. California Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown and Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla R. Owen have been previously filibustered by Democrats. And party leaders have signaled they will try to block them again.

Frist will in effect sound the battle horn as soon as he puts one of them on the schedule for debate. Before that, he is expected to make an overture to Democrats — a kind of "one last chance" for peace. But neither side expects he can offer a gesture acceptable to Democrats.

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