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Posted on 01/26/2005 9:23:45 AM PST by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites) won easy confirmation Wednesday to be President Bush (news - web sites)'s new secretary of state, despite strong dissent from a small group of Democrats who said she shares blame for mistakes and war deaths in Iraq (news - web sites).
The Senate voted 85 to 13 to confirm Rice, who succeeds Colin Powell (news - web sites) as America's top diplomat and becomes the first black woman to hold the job.
Plans were made for her to be sworn in at the White House Wednesday night, take her place in the State Department Thursday morning and have a more elaborate swearing-in by Bush at the agency on Friday.
The Senate vote showed some of the partisanship that delayed Rice's confirmation vote by several days. Twelve Democrats and independent James Jeffords (news - web sites) of Vermont voted against Rice. The Democrats included some of the Senate's best-known members such as Massachusetts Democratic Sens. Edward M. Kennedy and John Kerry (news - web sites), who was the party's presidential candidate in last year's election. Thirty Democrats voted for her.
Democratic foes of her appointment focused mostly on the way Bush and Rice took the United States to war in Iraq and how they have handled the war with insurgents since deposing Saddam Hussein (news - web sites).
They said mistakes had led to mounting American casualties. As the debate drew to a close, word came from Iraq of the crash of a U.S. military transport helicopter in bad weather, killing at least 30 people in the worst U.S. loss since the war.
Rice's nomination was never in doubt, however. Republicans had hoped to hold the vote last week, on the same day that Bush took the oath for his second term, but Democrats asked for more time. The GOP accused Democrats of inappropriately delaying Rice's confirmation to make political statements about Iraq policy.
Rice, 50, is Bush's trusted national security aide and a main architect of his policies on Iraq and the war on terror.
Although Rice was assured of confirmation, she got the most "no" votes since World War II. Seven senators voted against Henry Kissinger and six each against Dean Acheson and Alexander Haig.
"Dr. Rice is an honorable, fine public servant who needs to be confirmed," Bush said during a news conference Wednesday. "She will be a great secretary of state and Dr. Rice and I look forward to moving forward."
Bush rejected claims by Democrats that they had been lied to in the run-up to the war in Iraq.
On the Senate floor Wednesday, Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record), R-Ariz., suggested Democrats are sore losers. Rice had enough votes to win confirmation, as even her Democratic critics acknowledge, McCain said.
"So I wonder why we are starting this new Congress with a protracted debate about a foregone conclusion," McCain said. Since Rice is qualified for the job, he said, "I can only conclude that we are doing this for no other reason than because of lingering bitterness over the outcome of the election."
What had seemed at the outset to be a cinch turned into sometimes angry debate over Bush's decision to go to war with Iraq, his struggle with a potent insurgency and Rice's role in helping him make a case for overthrowing Saddam.
An academic who specialized in the study of the now-defunct Soviet Union, she has been one of Bush's closest advisers as his national security adviser for four years. In testimony last week to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, she swore she has not been shy about disagreeing with him privately at times.
Now, she will be at his side trying to improve relations with European allies, pursuing a Middle East settlement between Israel and the Palestinians, seeking a way to stop North Korea (news - web sites) and Iran from developing nuclear weapons — and, above all, trying to pacify Iraq with limited additional U.S. casualties.
Yep, heard a synopsis of it - that's what I was surprised about.
I'm not getting into a pissing match today but if you look at their votes they side with us most of the time. You are just singeling out the negative things that always heit the press........same with GRaham......he disagrees on a couople things and people label him RINO.......that is just weak intolerance
Mark Dayton, the sole Senator who fled Washington during an elevated terror alert to hide out in a bunker somewhere? He is an utter joke; the Minnesotans who elected him had to be inhaling something, and I don't mean lutefisk fumes, LOL!
"So I wonder why we are starting this new Congress with a protracted debate about a foregone conclusion," McCain said. Since Rice is qualified for the job, he said, "I can only conclude that we are doing this for no other reason than because of lingering bitterness over the outcome of the election."
Well this time ......he seems to be on the Money....but a lot of the time he isn't....
Boxer and Kerry for sure.
I wouldn't say he is unelectable........he has alot of moderate support crossing the aisle with alot of Dem support too......he would have to get thru the primaries though
Her lips are laughing; her eyes ARE NOT.
Ya know, I have to hand it to Bush. The nomination of Condi was not only a brilliant move on his part to get us an eminently qualified SOS but, politically, it was a stroke of pure genius.
The Dems have bad-mouthed her but they really couldn't afford to vote her down without thoroughly alienating one of their core constituencies. The Dems know they have been had and they had no choice but to confirm her. I would love to have been a fly on the wall, however to listen to the Dem Senate Caucus decide who was going to cast votes against here. Sen. KKK Byrd was an obvious choice but, for the rest, there had to have been 12 short straws to decide who didn't want to be re-elected.
What a conundrum . . . . . and too funny!!!
(And the Dems say Bush is dumb!!!)
Yeah, every once in a while he says something that makes me actually like him.
Actually this scares me. If he does one decent thing, the next two will be against us.
Akaka? Man, we could have a ball with that name!
No, no. The one bag goes over her head, and the other bag is for you to put over your head in case her bag breaks...
Well I doubt Lousenberg will be around to run for reelection. Of course he does represent New Jersey and as a democrat he may not have to technically be alive to be awarded the Senate seat.
Hillary gets all the attention re: 2008, but I believe Evan Bayh is the most dangerous Democrat threat to whichever candidate the Repubs run.
Heh! That's playing it safe.
HRC voted for her.
There are several posts not far upthread that list the thirteen.
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