This meme about the importance of a 60 seat majority in the Senate has to stop going unchallenged. Just having 60 Democrats does not give us a "filibuster proof majority". For that to be the case, all 60 would have to be in lockstep every time there was a motion for cloture. Considering that there are Democratic Senators in red states who have their own political realities and/or actual philosophies to face (see Nelson, Ben or, formerly, Miller, Zell) that would be nearly impossible. By the same token, it's possible that even at 58 or 59, a Republican Senator or two from a blue state could be counted on for cloture, but only on occasion (and that would still mean holding on to all Dems).
Having 70 Democrats in the Senate would likely be a filibuster proof majority, because you could probably always count on ten of the surplus to vote to end debate. But just getting to exactly 60? Needing every single Democratic senator to stay in line with no defections? It's not only absurd, this whole "60 is critical" argument, but it keeps getting repeated in the media and blogosphere as if it were sort of Gospel truth.
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