| Friday, September 23, 2005 |
| Hillary on the ... huh??? |
Hillary will vote against Judge Roberts when his nomination hits the full Senate. Sounds like somebody's counterprogramming Russ Feingold (who voted "aye" in committee) and looking to out-flank Joe Biden (who voted "nay"). That's the only explanation I've got. That said, I think this will help Hillary with the Kosbase, but hurt her with the center-right, and I think, overall ... Besides, Hillary's explanation is so vague, it makes Roberts' testimony sound down right specific:
"I do not believe that the Judge has presented his views with enough clarity and specificity for me to in good conscience cast a vote on his behalf. " ... Huh? By that standard, no Senator would ever be able to vote for any nominee because they're all slushy and unspecific, post-Bork... Unspecific is the way you get confirmed.
And now for some rare Wizbangian wisdom:
Even though Senator Hillary Clinton has gone to great lengths to portray herself as a moderate Democrat, there are certain litmus tests one must pass to remain a front-runner for the party's nomination in 2008. Voting against John Roberts appears to be on of those items. (Sigh). I hate it when that Kevin Aylward guy is right...
Update: Well, he's not entirely right... Hillary is a centrist Democrat (yes, she was a leftie, but that was when she was about 24... catch up, would you guys?) However, she's also the wife of a brilliant political tactician, who probably figured it would be a lot easier for her to explain her "no" vote on Roberts to moderate-independent (and pro-choice Republican) women than it would have been to explain a "yes" vote to the hard core liberal activists in the Democratic Party.
If you listen to enough Air America, you'll hear the distinct sound -- especially later in the programming day -- of Clinton hate. Liberals hate the Clintons even more than right wingers do, because the core concept of Clinton governance during the 1990s was to stiff-arm the left wing of his own party and cut deals with the right wing of the other party, yielding reliably centrist, fiscally conservative and economy-boosting results, but also smaller government -- which at the time the Democratic Party was not all for. (The real wonder is that, with the left on the ropes, the economy growing and both the government, and lower economic class dependence on it, shrinking, the GOP decided to try and overthrow Clinton rather than keep the good thing going. Now that's what I call irrational exuberance...)
Update 2: My gut reaction to the Hillary vote announcement is that it's a mistake. And I still say that I would have a hard time finding a good reason to oppose Roberts if I were in the Senate. But politically, she's probably done the right thing... probably... at least in terms of primary politics...
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