Toomey, Casey and Porter

Hey, remember this?

It's about how Keystone Progress uncovered a supposed deal between Pennsylvania's two Senators (one R, one D) on some upcoming judicial nominees.

Well, the story's made it onto the Huffingtonpost:

Progressives in Pennsylvania are scrambling to derail a deal they say the state's U.S. senators are quietly trying to cut with the White House on a package of judicial nominees, which includes a conservative Republican aligned with groups opposed to abortion rights, gay rights and gun control.

Keystone Progress, a statewide progressive advocacy group, launched a campaign on Tuesday urging Sens. Bob Casey (D) and Pat Toomey (R) to abandon any plan to recommend corporate lawyer David J. Porter to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Among other things, the group highlights that Porter heads the Federalist Society's Pittsburgh Lawyers Chapter, helped found a coalition that tried to stop Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation, and is a contributor and trustee at the conservative Center for Vision and Values.

Here's an interesting part:

The Huffington Post reached out to Casey and Toomey on Wednesday for comment on any potential deal involving Porter. Neither denied that a nominations package may be coming soon or that Porter may be part of it.

And then some context:

With more than 85 judicial vacancies still out there and the clock running down on Obama's presidency, it may be the new norm that the president is willing to tuck a socially conservative nominee or two into a broader package of judicial picks in order to move the process forward. The White House can't just push through its preferred Democratic nominees thanks, at least in part, to the "blue slip" rule in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Under that practice, which is more of a courtesy than a hard rule, any senator has the ability to unilaterally block a nominee from his or her home state. Some Republicans have been leaning on blue slips to prevent Obama's nominees from advancing, while committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has brushed off calls to do away with the custom.

The real test is when the Democrats no longer hold the Majority in the Senate and/or have a President the Oval Office.  Will they play by the same obstructionist rules that the Republicans are so adept at playing at now?

Somehow I doubt it.  And that's why I am no longer a member of the Democratic Party.