Those guys have already lost the battle
The shuttle is/was there ally! Yeah they'll all come out of the woodwork again and do some arm waving but Congress has given its bi-partisan support to human spaceflight continuing and there's no doubt it will. Especially with China and Russia still in the business and ESA looking to invest in the Kliper.
Don't you think the money saved from the shuttle could accelerate the CEV time frame to sooner than 2010?
