| The Global Freedom Institute |
| John Ashcroft: Simply a test. (page 2) For republicans, this means that they have to find 2 votes and keep the 8 democrats that voted for Ashcroft on their side on these issues. It also means that even if they don�t find those 2 votes, that a slightly more moderate version of these potential bills and justice nominations may pass the Senate. Either way, this gives republicans an idea of where they stand on the ability to get these potential bills and nominations through the Senate. For democrats, this shows how thin the margin currently is. However, this number may be misleading, because some voted for Ashcroft because he was a Presidential Cabinet appointee. Some in the Senate feel that a President should have the right to choose his Cabinet, unless there is something incredibly wrong, such as violating the law. This tells democrats they must shore up their Senators to maintain this position. Two votes is not a very solid foundation. Some have asked why the democrats didn�t filibuster the Ashcroft vote and send a stronger message to the republicans and President Bush. Not long ago, one of the chief concerns of the American people was governmental �gridlock.� The use of the filibuster too often by the democrats could lose the support of the American people that supported them and that may vote for them in 2002. So the democrats must pick and choose the issues that are important enough to filibuster. By not filibustering Ashcroft, but having 42 votes against him, they send a message that they have the votes to maintain a filibuster to republicans. At the same time, many democratic media have begun to go after the 8 Senators that voted for Ashcroft to send a message to those Senators to try to get them back on the party �line.� This is their move to shore up their support for future bills and judicial nominations. Ashcroft was not the target, simply a test on both sides of the aisle. However, it has set up the stage for the next battle. Expect religion, affirmative action and abortion to be on the battle scene for the future. Unless the make up of the Senate changes in 2002, this fight will be front and center in Washington D.C. --GFI 2/5/01 1 2 Back to Main Page |