Do Voters Understand The Modern Filibuster? Probably Not!

The chart above is from the Politico / Morning Consult Poll -- done between June 4th and 7th of a national sample of 1,990 registered voters, with a 2 point margin of error.

The results of the poll make me wonder if voters understand the modern filibuster. About 48% say they support the filibuster to 27% who don't support it. But when asked if it should take 60 votes or a simple majority to pass a bill, 38% say 60 votes and 45% say a 51-vote majority.

I think when most voters think about the Senate filibuster, they picture Jimmy Stewart in "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington" standing on the Senate floor and talking until he dropped from exhaustion. But the modern filibuster is not like that.

In the modern filibuster, all a senator has to do is inform leadership of his/her intention to filibuster. He/she does not have to go to the Senate floor and doesn't have to speak a single word. But that notification means the bill being filibustered cannot pass without 60 votes to stop the filibuster. In other words, it then takes 60 votes to pass a bill!

Mitch McConnell (Senate Minority Leader) has made it clear that he is going to oppose everything President Biden tries to do -- just like he did with President Obama. And he's going to use the filibuster to do that. By requiring 60 votes to pass a bill, he assures that Democrats will not be able to pass any bill.

Bipartisanship is dead in the current Senate, and because of that, the filibuster must be reformed or eliminated. If it is not, nothing is going to get done!