Wow, what a surprise!
Via AP/Yahoo:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy (news, bio, voting record) of Vermont, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, announced his opposition on Thursday to Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito.
Also not a surprise:
Other leading Senate Democrats planned to declare their opposition later in the day to Alito, who nonetheless appears headed toward confirmation in the Republican-controlled Senate.
I guess Ben Nelson was an anomoly. And there's this as well, showing the strategy (if you can call it one) of the Dems in this matter:
WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 - With little chance of stopping Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr.'s confirmation to the Supreme Court, Senate Democratic leaders urged their members Tuesday to vote against him in an effort to lay the groundwork for making a campaign issue of his decisions on the court.
The vote count "matters a lot, and I think the debate leading up to it matters," said Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, a member of the Judiciary Committee and the Democratic whip.
"If a nominee disappoints the country with their service on their court and their decisions, I think some people may ask the important question, Did the Senate really take a close look at this nominee?" Mr. Durbin said. "Did they tell us this was coming?"
So there you have it. If you were going to vote yes, don't - for the good of the party.
It's not about Alito's qualifications for the court. That's irrelevant.
It's about political posturing. And the country be damned.
Update (5:00 PM EST): Family Research Council: "Once again, it is clear that shameless partisan Democrats, beholden to their extreme liberal base, are committed to politics over a fair constitutional process."
Yep.
