O.K. Let me see how this demonstrates leadership:
1) You nominate a qualifies individual that supported the "truth" by blowing Kerry's lies.
2)In your words "The Dems fear the truth, which was brought out by the Swift Boat Vets."
3) They start whinning and say they won't comfirm.
4) Believing in our nominee and having the truth behind us...
5) We withdraw the nomination... GREAT!!! THAT'S LEADERSHIP ALLRIGHT !
I gave to the SBV's and would be glad to be nominated.
Well maybe you're both right. Maybe he should have gone ahead with confirmation hearings and turned it into a minor debate about the Swift Boat Vets and their right to free speech, etc. I'm not being sarcastic. I don't know that much about Washington political strategy, but it seems like usually nominees don't want to go through confirmation hearings if they aren't going to be confirmed. So maybe the nominee asked to bow out rather than be interrogated by senate Dems.