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'"Being unable to stop filibusters can make the party in power look ineffective," said Julian Zelizer , a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University , who's written extensively on the filibuster. "The Republican goal now is to make Obama look like an ineffective leader." Although minority Democrats used the filibuster extensively from 2006 on, 'Republicans appear to be taking the filibuster to a new level. They've filibustered 15 nominees to mid-level jobs that formerly got routine approval;' all but one ultimately were confirmed.

"So perhaps, it might be argued, abortion can be safely limited only when the government does more to cover women's costs in other ways - in which case Texas might still be flirting with disaster. But note that this is a better argument for liberalism than for abortion. It suggests, for instance, that liberal donors and activists should be spending more time rallying against Perry's refusal to take federal Medicaid financing than around Wendy Davis's famous filibuster. It implies that the quest to "turn Texas blue" should make economic policy rather than late-term abortion its defining issue. And it raises the possibility that a pro-life liberalism - that once-commonplace, now-mythical persuasion - would actually have a stronger argument to make than the one Texas's critics are making now.