Yesterday seven Republican senators exhibited extreme cowardice by making a "deal" to avoid the constitutional (or so-called nuclear) option in the U.S. Senate. The deal has been rejected by Senate Majority Leader, Bill Frist. He has pledged to get up or down votes on all of President Bush's judicial nominees.

Look for these people to pay a price at the polls the next time they come up for re-election. DeWine and Snowe are up first in 2006.

• Mike DeWine, Ohio
• Susan Collins, Maine
• Lindsey Graham, South Carolina
• Lincoln Chaffee, Rhode Island
• John McCain, Arizona
• John W. Warner, Virginia
• Olympia J. Snowe, Maine

Maybe their skins will be saved by further maneuvering in the near future, but there are a lot of unhappy Republican voters today.