[If this has already been diaried, my apologies. Let me know and I'll delete. I didn't see it when I did a search.]
Argh! I've been beating my head against a brick wall about Nebraska Nelson ever since he voted in favor of the Bankruptcy Bill and voted against every single Democratic amendment designed to protect the elderly, our servicemen and women and the sick and infirm from the worst of that horrible bill.
Most of you here at Dkos keep telling me that having a Democrat in the seat is better than having a Republican in the seat.
Now that Nelson intends to support the Alito nomination, is he still 'better than a Republican'?
More after the jump.
From CNN:
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito has the confirmation vote of at least one Senate Democrat but several other Democrats said Wednesday they had lingering questions about the nominee and will vote against him.
Sen. Max Baucus, D-Montana, said after a morning meeting with Alito that he would vote against President Bush's Supreme Court nominee as too far outside the mainstream of judicial thinking.
"He's just not right for Montana, he's just not right for America," Baucus said. "He's very polished and he answered all of the questions I was going to ask. There is just a little too much inconsistency."
And...
Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Maryland, also said she would vote against Alito. "I have a lot of unanswered questions," Mikulski said.
So far so good.
But then...
Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, one of the most conservative Democrats in Congress, announced Tuesday in a statement that he had made up his mind to support Alito "because of his impeccable judicial credentials, the American Bar Association's strong recommendation and his pledge that he would not bring a political agenda to the court."
I know the Senator is running for re-election in 2006 but we simply can NOT count on this man's vote. Ever. For anything. Even the important things.
That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.