Why did these Senators (D) vote to confirm Ashcroft?

[One Taste]

http://www.failureisimpossible.com/needtoknow/ashcroft.htm

The Crazy Eight
These Democrats voted to confirm John Ashcroft.

John Breaux (LA)
Robert Byrd
Christopher Dodd
Kurt Conrad
Byron Dorgan
Russ Feingold
Zell Miller (well, okay I didn't expect any better here)
Ben Nelson

[Eric J in MN]

1. They wanted to let Bush have his choice for a position which

They wanted to let Bush have his choice for a position which isn't a lifetime appointment.

We need more Senators like Russ Feingold, even if Ashcroft turned out to be worse than he might have expected.

Support Russ Feingold:

http://www.russfeingold.org/

[lovedems]

2. Maybe they had warm fuzzy thoughts of him when Asscrack was a congressman?

He did get beat by a dead guy though. Who knows?

[punpirate]

3. Probably because he was a former member of the Senate...

... and their deference would be seen as a courtesy to a former member. Ask any of `em now if they still think it was a good idea, and the Zell from hell will likely be the only one to say, "yup." John Breaux and Nelson might, as well, but not very loudly....

[Hippo_Tron]

4. Senatorial courtesy...

Especially with Byrd, he's a man who's big on tradition considering that he's been there so long. Besides, the AG serves at the pleasure of the president. If Asscroft wasn't confirmed they'd just pick somebody who looked more moderate but would do whatever the white house told him to do.

[arcos]

5. I believe Feingold said...

that he believed the President should be free to name anyone he wants without Senate confirmation, and that's why he voted yes.

I don't recall exactly though, so someone correct me if I'm wrong.

[ClassWarrior]

8. That's right, to the cabinet...

...but he also said he'd hold those cabinet officers totally accountable for their actions in office.

[DustMolecule]

6. Interesting list

I never claimed that I 'understood politics'. Obviously, I DIDN'T learn 'everything I ever needed to know in kindergarten'.

[leyton]

7. Whoever Bush would've picked would be corrupt.

Why pick a fight you can't win? Obviously, Bush picked a Treasury Secretary and a Secretary of State with integrity, but in general he's bound to pick people we don't like. What should these Senators have done? AG nominations can't be held up forever, and it's in everybody's interest to get past nominations and on to governing.

[leesa]

9. He picked a treasury secretary and a secretary of state with integrity?

Are there new people in these jobs or something?

[gatorboy]

10. It's the dead guy thing that gets me....

Seriously. Who in their right mind would pick an individual that the American people trust less then a dead guy????

"I might vote on Ashcroft....Buuuut that dead guy has some valid points!"

[Hippo_Tron]

13. Collin Powell has integrity?

That's news to me.

[One Taste]

14. He used to.

:shrug:

[DustMolecule]

11. It's in 'everybody's interest' to nominate 'reasonable candidates'

...I would suggest that 'no governing' is better than 'bad governing'

it's in everybody's interest to get past nominations and on to governing.

I'm not a doctor, but there is a 'soundness' to the Hippocratic Oath of 'first do no harm'. It applies to 'governing' as well. Governing, just for it's own sake, is meaningless. Governing for some 'good' has value. Governing for the good of 'a few' at the expense of the many, is not good governance (imho)....history as well proves that 'that just doesn't work'.

edit: typo

[leyton]

17. I disagree.

Yeah, Ashcroft is bad, but the country couldn't just sit around without an AG.

My point is that the Senate Democrats don't pick the AG, they confirm, and at the end of the day the country needs an AG and a Senate that's not tied up in nominations.

[DustMolecule]

18. Well, if the choice is 'not a good/reasonable one'

then perhaps they shouldve' refused to confirm THAT ONE. I thought that's what the process was for? The AG position is an awfully powerful/important one to just shrug-shoulders at and say, 'yeah, okay...whoever'.

[DustMolecule]

12. This is a good question

:kick:

[QC]

15. Feingold could have singlehandedly stopped Ashcroft.

But he wanted to set a good example and change the tone and do his part to eliminate partisanship, and all that namby-pamby bullshit.

He really let us down on that one.

[SoCalDem]

16. The "Good Ole Boys' Club"

In some cases, the (R) or (D) next to the name is meaningless.. They are out for themselves and care little for the people who send them to the Congress.. They are men of little character..:(