A minor artifact of Republican political rhetoric over various confirmation struggles was the remarkably insincere demand for an "up-or-down" vote on various candidates presented for approval. Under a Republican-controlled Congress, any individual capable of basic arithmetic should have known that a statement calling for an "up-or-down" vote was equivalent (in reality if not in rhetoric) to a statement calling for immediate approval of all of the President's appointees. To suggest that the possibility of "down" existed struck me as a particularly unpalatable and disingenuous rhetorical stunt.
However, it must have polled well with the party faithful, as various Republican spokespeople salivated the catchphrase during struggles over UN ambassadorships and judicial confirmations with a regularity reminiscent of Pavlov's dogs hearing a bell. With John Bolton's resignation, the President again reflexively punched the old rhetorical bag, being: "deeply disappointed that a handful of United States senators prevented Ambassador Bolton from receiving the up or down vote he deserved in the Senate."
With an incoming Democratic majority, one can only hope that urgent demands for an "up-or-down" vote will abate somewhat. It would be unattractive, if appealing to one's sense of irony, if Democrats were to take up the hue and cry for an "up-or-down" vote.
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4 comments:
Ironic, sure, but the Democrats'd probably lose.
Plus, why tempt fate?
I meant after the Democrats take a majority in the Senate--they'd confirm John Bolton?
Well, I never said I had utter confidence in the party leadership. That would be tempting fate.
It'd take an awful lot of solidarity not to give up the one vote needed to confirm Bolton, assuming the Republicans stuck together as a block. I'm not up on the position each senator took, but what about Nelson (Ben) or Lieberman?
I'm no expert either, but this WaPo article cites Sens. Lieberman, Landrieu and Nelson as possible defectors. However, what about crossovers the other way like Lincoln Chafee? Bolton's not the most attractive candidate out there. You're right that the wisest thing to do is stifle him in committee. But beyond Bolton, I was thinking more of judicial appointees over the next two years, who will receive an "up or down vote"--and what people are likely to say about that.
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