January 17, 2006

Benator Says Sam I Am A SCOTUS

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) became the first Senate Dem to come out in favor of Sam Alito's confirmation to the Supreme Court. Considering Nelson's track record on Bush appointees, this isn't a surprise. What will be interesting is to see how many other Democrats follow Nelson's lead. The betting has been 7-10. Among those on our "Alito watch list": The senators up in '06 from swingish states, like Bob Byrd (WV), Bill Nelson (FL) and Debbie Stabenow (MI). Also, will Bob Menendez cast one of his first votes against someone from his own state?

BTW, here's a quote from Nelson's statement: "I have decided to vote in favor of Judge Samuel Alito to serve as the 110th Justice of the United States Supreme Court. I came to this decision after careful consideration 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."

Posted at 09:05 PM

Comments

Stabenow voted no on Roberts and she'll vote no on Alito. She's in a blue state where Bush isn't that popular to start with, and the GOP's running a third tier candidate (Mike Bouchard) against her.

Yeas will include at least Nelson, Tim Johnson, Mark Pryor, Blanche Lincoln, Mary Landrieu and Frank Lautenberg. More possible yeas: Bob Menendez (also from NJ) and Bill Nelson (voted for Roberts, but he's not sweating Katherine Harris).

Dave Weigel | 01.18.06 02:13 AM

Speaking of betting on Democrats voting to confirm...

Poolitics has a pool going on what the margin of confirmation will be.

Tracy | 01.18.06 01:12 PM

Bill Nelson's race isn't even close to competitive. He's polling about 23 points ahead of Crazy Kathy Harris (the implants didn't help) -- besides the fact that she's having a hell of a time raising money. I figure Nelson has the breathing room -- if he wants to -- to vote no on Alito. The question really is how cautious he and his team decide to be. I highly doubt a no vote on Alito would be enough to give Harris a cudgel to wield. She'd have to at least have a handle first...

ReidBlog | 01.18.06 03:25 PM

...and given Alito's quavering on the "unitary executive," I'd count Robert Byrd among the "no" votes as well...

ReidBlog | 01.18.06 03:26 PM

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