Posted on 01/19/2006 1:47:52 PM PST by The_Victor
WASHINGTON - Two Democrats who supported Chief Justice John Roberts said Thursday they would oppose Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito in next week's Senate vote.
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The conservative judge is expected to be confirmed, but with fewer votes than the 78 Roberts got in September.
Democratic Sens. Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Ken Salazar of Colorado both questioned whether Alito would be independent of President Bush and the executive branch in his future rulings.
"At a time when the president is seizing unprecedented power, the Supreme Court needs to act as a check and to provide balance," Leahy, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a speech at Georgetown University's law school. "Based on the hearing and his record, I have no confidence that Judge Alito would provide that check and balance."
Added Salazar in a statement: "Judge Alito would place too much power in the hands of the president of the United States, at the cost of the protective system of checks and balances built into our Constitution.
The Judiciary Committee, which has 10 Republicans and eight Democrats — is expected to approve Alito's nomination Tuesday in a party-line vote. The full Senate is expected to debate and vote on the nomination that same week, with its Republican majority confirming the federal appeals judge.
Leahy, Salazar and Max Baucus of Montana — who announced his opposition to Alito on Wednesday — were three of the 22 Democrats who voted for Roberts' confirmation as the replacement for the late Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, a conservative.
Alito is not expected to get that much support from the Senate's 44-member Democratic caucus. He was picked by Bush as the replacement for retiring moderate Sandra Day O'Connor, who was the swing vote on contentious issues such as abortion and affirmative action during her career on the court.
Several other Democrats are opposing Alito, including Tom Harkin of Iowa, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Barbara Mikulski of Maryland.
Sen. Ben Nelson (news, bio, voting record) of Nebraska is the only Democrat to announce that he will vote for Alito's confirmation next week. He also voted for Roberts' confirmation.
None of the Senate's 55 Republicans have announced opposition to Alito. Most _if not all — of them are expected to vote for his confirmation. They all voted for Roberts.
Independent Sen. Jim Jeffords of Vermont has not announced how he'll vote.
Alito is continuing to visit senators, spending time Thursday with Tom Carper, D-Del., and new Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J. Carper and Menendez have not taken positions on Alito's nomination. "I have reservations," Menendez said.
Sens. John Sununu, R-N.H., and John Warner, R-Va., announced their support for Alito after meeting with him Thursday.
"He understands the law and the Constitution extremely well, and I think one of the abilities he showed was to clearly describe how he ruled, why he ruled, and what factors were critical to particular cases," Sununu said. "That's an indication that his service on the court and his view of the Constitution is rooted in principle."
Added Warner: "In my view, Judge Alito's strong record and experience, coupled with his appearance before the Judiciary Committee, eliminates any question of the existence of extraordinary circumstances that would justify denying him confirmation by the Senate."
Cuellar, of Texas.......DEMOCRAT
OldFriend, Salazar's brother's congressional district is not safe. For many years Craig McInnis of Grand Junction, a Republican, represented the district. It is mildly Republican, but with enough of Pueblo plus Aspen and Vail to make a Democrat competitive. The pubbies were very badly divided last year in something like a seven-way primary. Brother Salazar will need to be a conservative Democrat in the mold of Ben Nighthorse Campbell (who represented the district before McInnis) if he wants to keep his seat.
Whenever I see the title to this thread "Democrats Leahy, Salazar to Oppose Alito" I instead see:
Democrat Sleazy to Oppose Alito.
And their comments that the congress needs more democrats..............
The bed-wetting Salazar is on the Clinton-Kennedy Plantation and will vote as he is told. How stupid the voters in CO were to believe that this milquetoast was a conservative!
Please freepmail me when you learn of the name of a republican opponent to congressman Salazar.
He does sound like a pro-growth Democrat, better than either of his competitors.
State Rep. Richard Raymond (D) won't challenge Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) in a primary, TX Dem sources tell the Hotline.Ex-Rep. Martin Frost endorsed Raymond in 6/05, saying he would be the best candidate to defeat Cuellar, who was blasted by Dems and allies for his pro-CAFTA vote and his '00 endorsement of Pres. Bush over Al Gore.
Cuellar and Raymond both hail from Laredo, leaving them to battle over the same hometown base. Another potential Dem candidate is ex-Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (D) whom Cuellar defeated in '04.
Rodriguez already has the support of many of his former colleagues, but redistricting carved out most of San Antonio from the district; the city is a stronghold for Rodriguez, making a successful campaign an uphill battle.
http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2005/12/dems_avoid_nast.html
2004 RACE: TEXAS DISTRICT 28
Henry Cuellar (D) - (59% of vote)
James Hopson (R) - (39% of vote)
Ken Ashby (L) - No reports on record for this candidateOTHER CANDIDATES WHO RAN
Chris Bellamy (R)
Francisco Canseco (R)
Gabriel Perales Jr. (R)
Ciro D. Rodriguez (D)http://www.opensecrets.org/races/summary.asp?id=TX28&cycle=2004
Hot on the heels of his CAFTA sell-out, The Hill reports that Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar is likely to face two challengers in a tough primary battle next year. Dissatisfaction with Cuellar goes back to before his days as a member of the House, though. In 2000 he endorsed George W. Bush over Al Gore in the Presidential election. In 2001, he was appointed Texas Secretary of State by Rick Perry. In 2004, Cuellar barely won a primary race against sitting Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairman Ciro Rodriguez.Other House Democrats are already involved in the campaign to unseat Cuellar.
Fer cryin' out loud...! ping!
LOL, and true! If Cashman is ever nominated to the SC by a Democrat president; Leahy will be leading the charge for confirmation.
With that description, seems CFG is justified in support of the guy. Where a conservative Republican won't be elected, a more conservative Democrat is the better option.
Provided they are more conservative. I wouldn't recommend believing people to be, like salazar, before holding the office but this guy has held the office and has a record to back it up. Certainly if Frost is interfering in an attempt to give it to Cuellar's challenger, I'm on Cuellar's side.
Okey, doke.
It looks to be a judiciously selected battle to me too.
Most of the hoodwinkables in Colorado moved in from California or Mexico recently.
The Californian people in Colorado are happy now.
The Mexican people in Colorado are happy now.
The Colorado people in Colorado are NOT happy now.
Coors would have lost a one-man race with himself. He ran a horrible campaign.
We need Scott McInnis back.
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