09 Nov John Bolton — and My Beer
According to Steve Clemons at the Washington Note, Bolton’s nomination is dead despite Bush re-nominating him:
At 1:22 pm, the White House sent John Bolton’s controversial nomination to serve as US Ambassador to the United Nations back up to the Senate.
Luckily, Lincoln Chafee would have none of it — suggesting that such a nomination is clearly not in the spirit of what happened electorally in this country this week. By 2:15 pm, Chafee put an end to the Bolton confirmation process by formalizing his previous “informal” opposition to Bolton in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Kudos to Chafee for acting so honorably. As Clemons notes, if this is Bush’s idea of bipartisanship, we’re in for an interesting two years.
UPDATE: Chafee, by the way, is considering leaving the Republican Party to become either a Democrat or an Independent, which speaks volumes about the plight of the moderate Republican. The following exchange is revealing:
When asked whether he felt that his loss may have helped the country by switching control of power in Congress, he replied: “To be honest, yes.”
“The people have spoken all across America. They want the Democrats and Republicans to work together,” Chafee added. “I think the president now is going to have to talk to the Democrats. I think that’s going to be good for America.”
A lifelong Republican who succeeded his father in the U.S. Senate, Chafee said he waged a lonely campaign to try to bring the party to the middle. He described attending weekly Thursday lunches with fellow Republican senators and standing up to argue his point of view, often alone.
“There were times walking into my caucus room where it wasn’t fun,” he said.
Does Zell Miller’s defection speak volumes about the plight of the moderate Democrat?
No, because that would assume there was ever something moderate about Miller. His repulsive defense of Bush at the Convention gave the lie to that idea once and for all…
How can you describe Chafee as a moderate? Name one position of Chafee’s that does not conform to liberal orthodoxy. I can think of none on economic, social, or foreign policy issues. Chafee is a down-the-line liberal.
Chafee acting honorably? Chafee lost his election, he’s a lame duck. After all the money the Republicans dumped on him, he can’t even bring himself to cast a (probably meaningless) vote in their support?
He should go ahead and see if the Democrats will take him. He’s probably a little left of most Democrats, anyway. Not like they need him, though, now that a Democrat has his office.