LAT: 4 Democrats on '08 List to Vote Against Roberts

4 Democrats on '08 List to Vote Against Roberts
Some say the senators' decisions have a strong political dimension. Party activists are insisting that candidates staunchly resist Bush.

By Ronald Brownstein, Times Staff Writer


WASHINGTON — All but one of the five Senate Democrats viewed as possible 2008 presidential candidates have said they would vote against the confirmation of John G. Roberts Jr. as chief justice, underscoring the pressure on party leaders to combat President Bush.

Both parties agree that Roberts is virtually certain to win confirmation later this week after a debate that began Monday. Three of the eight Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, including the party's ranking member, Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), voted for Roberts when the panel approved his nomination to the Supreme Court last week. And some moderate Democratic senators have announced they would vote for him.

But among the senators who might seek the party's 2008 presidential nomination, only iconoclastic liberal Russell D. Feingold (D-Wis.) has said he would vote to confirm Roberts. The other potential White House candidates — Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware and Evan Bayh of Indiana (Roberts' home state) — have said they would oppose Roberts.

This decisive tilt highlights the continuing demand among party activists — the key early audience for 2008 contenders — for aggressive resistance to Bush's key initiatives.

"I understand that people are conflicted and clearly see this as a vote of conscience, but from a purely political point of view, the Democrat activist base has long been concerned that our party is too accommodating with Bush," said Democratic pollster Mark Mellman, who advised Kerry in 2004....


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-roberts27sep27,0,637299.story?coll=la-home-nation

You're just now getting that?

Only NOW?

"Democrat activist base has long been concerned that our party is too accommodating with Bush" - MAN - just woke up, did ya? Where've you been, guy? Down in the Marianas Trench?

Well, better late than never, I guess, but there's still plenty of time to resume capitulating and genuflecting. And the incense burners are over there in the cabinet, too, in case you need some of those for effect.

Or for the bankruptcy bill?

Gotta love litmus-test politics...nobody's happy.