Speaking of possible filibusters that might provide a boost to the GOP, Barbara Barrett takes a look at the nomination of Terrence Boyle in today's Raleigh News & Observer:

The U.S. Senate returns to Capitol Hill on Tuesday after its summer recess, but for just a month. There is scant time for the whirlwind surge of business that members want to complete so they can get home and defend their seats in the midterm elections.

Senate observers say no judicial nominee has waited longer for a floor vote in the U.S. Senate, and yet Boyle's chances -- hindered until now by controversy -- could rest on the political winds whipping through Washington.

With such a tight schedule, a divisive floor battle on a Court of Appeals nominee might not make the Senate's priority list.

Or, a Boyle vote could be propelled to the top of the agenda to galvanize conservative voters in a year already proving dicey for the GOP. [snip]

If Republicans lose control of the Senate in November, confirming Boyle will be even tougher, said Norman Ornstein, a congressional scholar with the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.

"This may be their last bite at the apple for nominations like Boyle's," Ornstein said. "But it sure seems to me this is not likely to go forward without a big controversy." [snip]

Dole also has talked with members of the so-called Gang of 14, a bipartisan group of moderate senators often seen as swing votes on judicial nominees, and says she is finding "growing and considerable support" among that group.

Chris Oprison, a former Boyle clerk and corporate lawyer in Washington, has spent hours meeting with staff members in key Senate offices this summer.

"I think we're on the cusp of getting him a vote," he said.

Minority Leader Harry Reid has called Boyle "unacceptable" and has hinted at a possible filibuster.

One this is for sure, September is going to be one of the most exciting, frenzied, and perhaps most consequential legislative sessions in recent memory.