WASHINGTON -- A Senate Judiciary Committee divided along partisan lines advanced Alberto Gonzales' nomination as attorney general to the full Senate today despite Democratic complaints that he is too close to President Bush to be effective as the nation's top law enforcement official.
"It's hard to be a straight shooter when you're a blind loyalist," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.
Republicans muscled Gonzales' nomination through the panel on a 10-8 party line vote and are expected to use their 55-44 advantage to confirm him there next week at the earliest.
I'll be honest, when the process started I didn't think the Democrats had it in them, as an opposition party, and expected Gonzalez and Rice to pass with similar margins, figuring that a few Democrats would grumble but most of them would defer. Now the Gonzalez vote goes to the Senate proper.
This is a fight that we're going to lose. If it goes to straight party lines in the Senate, Gonzalez will be confirmed. But it's a fight worth fighting, regardless of outcome, and denying Gonzalez any stamp of approval from our party is nothing but a big positive.
I still feel betrayed by how the Senate Dems voted on the War in Iraq and the Patriot Act. I take some comfort with this judiciary vote that at last, the Democrats are standing up for what's right.
The Judiciary Democrats that voted against Gonzalez:
Patrick J. Leahy
VERMONT
Edward M. Kennedy
MASSACHUSETTS
Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
DELAWARE
Herbert Kohl
WISCONSIN
Richard J. Durbin
ILLINOIS
Dianne Feinstein
CALIFORNIA
Russell D. Feingold
WISCONSIN
Charles E. Schumer
NEW YORK
Round of applause.
Now let's make sure that Gonzalez fails to get a Democratic vote in the Senate proper. If the Republicans want him, they can own him. Let's not have him on our party's conscience.