WASHINGTON — When word surfaced recently that Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) was working with a Democrat on a compromise to end the Senate's standoff over confirmation of federal judges, the reaction from his traditional allies was swift and decisive.
Lott's switchboard lighted up like a Christmas tree. And it stayed that way for days, jammed with calls from conservative activists -- from Washington, Mississippi, Texas and elsewhere -- who would brook no compromise on their goal of ending a powerful delaying tactic that Democrats have used to block approval of some of President Bush's judicial nominees.
"We feel like there should be zero compromise, no deal," said Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Assn., a Mississippi-based conservative group whose members were among those flooding Lott's home-state offices with phone calls and e-mails in protest.
The episode illustrates the powerful political forces that have helped make the Senate controversy over federal judges so intractable.
That battle is expected to escalate today, when Republican Senate leaders take the first procedural steps expected to culminate next week in a vote on whether the filibuster can be used to block judicial nominees.
Even if some senators might be willing to compromise, outside activists crucial to each political party are putting heavy pressure on Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to not give ground to the other.
Conservative activists are unyielding in their insistence that there be an up-or-down vote on every judicial nominee, meaning 51 votes in the 100-seat Senate would be needed for confirmation.
These activists want Frist to push ahead -- as he is pledging -- to ban the filibusters that Democrats used to prevent votes on 10 of Bush's appellate court nominees during his first term -- including seven who have been renominated this year. It takes 60 votes to end a filibuster.
Some liberal activists, meanwhile, have objected to proposals by Reid and other Democrats to allow votes on some disputed nominees if the GOP drops its assault on the filibuster. These activists oppose approval of any of the disputed nominees.
Such cross pressures contributed to the collapse of negotiations between Republican and Democratic leaders Monday, making plain that if there were to be a compromise, it would have to come from moderate backbenchers. And as of Tuesday night, it appeared their efforts would fall short.
