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Let's imagine that the election in 1956 goes differently and Republicans regain the majority.

LBJ is still around-but is relegated to the Minority Leader post.

And yes I realize there was another thread with this idea in mind-but there the discussion skipped over the filibuster fight.

In any event now-Majority Leader Knowland refuses to do what LBJ did-Nixon rules that Senate rules can be revised with a simple majority.

Senator Richard Russell vows that the Senate will now vote on each and every Senate Rule.

Russell plans to clog up the Senate until crucial legislation forces the liberals to abandon the anti-Rule 22 push.

In addition to forcing the Senate to reconsider every other rule in addition to Rule 22

Russell and his allies use a variety of parliamentary tricks to accomplish their aim of clogging up the Senate and forcing the liberals to abandon the effort.

In this scenario:

How active a role would Russell demand Minority Leader Johnson play in his effort to save the filibuster?

On the one hand this is a do or die fight for Russell. On the other hand Russell knows that this is a proxy fight over Civil Rights-and Johnson cannot be seen as anti-civil rights if he is to be nominated in 1960-which was an important Russell goal at the time.

How long would the fight in the Senate continue? If we presume Russell prevails-at what point do the liberals feel forced to abandon the effort?

If Russell's fight proves unsuccessful-Rule 22 is dead-and the process of bringing the legislation to the floor is under Republican control. Meaning the full House Bill can pass without amendment with a simple majority-what does Minority Leader Johnson do?

Again he can't kill the bill. Even if he could in theory-in practice he can't afford to be an anti-Civil Rights Senator if he wants to be President.

On the other hand Russell might not forgive Johnson's voting for the full House Bill-and he certainly will not forgive Johnson being the reason the bill passes. Johnson cannot therefore cast the deciding vote.

Then again in this scenario Johnson will not have to worry about being the vote that passed the law.

There are probably enough pro-legislation Republicans and liberal Democrats to make a split decision unlikely.

Still-if he wants to be President Johnson has to vote for the law-which has implications for the remainder of his career. He may feel forced to be more active in his pursuit of the Presidency in 1960-but if he voted for an expansive Civil Rights law in 1957 he may have lost his natural base.

Again, I'm not presuming anything other than a fight over the filibuster takes place.
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