Kerry organizing filibuster: What's the real story?

This whole thing may have been part of Harry Reid's plan all along:

1. Call for a filibuster,
   
2. Force vulnerable Republicans like Chaffee to vote up-or-down on cloture (either way he pisses off RI voters),
   
3. Get another few days of us-versus-them speechifyng,
   
4. Then release the Democratic members of the Gang of 14 to vote yes on cloture.