Today the Senate Judiciary Committee, with one exception, voted along party lines to recommend Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court. It had been expected that one or two other Republican senators would have voted with the Democrats.
Combined with votes on the national health care proposal, that Republicans in Congress are voting in a block to please their party and fund-raising base -- cranky, old white men, red-necks from the South and talk radio hosts.
Word out of Washington is that Republican congressment and senators are working with the President and Democrats on drafting proposals, but just don't want to get caught out in the open voting for them. They are putting themselves into the weird position of working on legislation, then voting against it.