As TWN has previously reported, the White House must concede on documents if it wants a Bolton vote. Every day the White House delays is another opportunity to turn Republicans against Bolton as they realize that this vote is no longer a throw-away vote and that their constituents are watching.
Supporting Bolton now has profound negative political consequences for a number of Senators.
Reid put the state of battle simply to the White House — which has been obstructing the process on getting Bolton documents since mid-April.
As reported by CNN:
“You can’t ignore the Senate. We’ve told them what we’ve wanted. The ball is in his court,” Reid, D-Nevada, told CNN. “If they want John Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations, give us this information. If they don’t, there will be no Bolton.”
The Senate fell four votes shy of the 60 needed to cut off debate on Bolton’s nomination in May after two Democrats on the Foreign Relations Committee urged their colleagues to hold the issue open.
Cheney’s wing of the White House could still potentially get Bolton to the United Nations despite the best efforts of this blog and others in this debate — but only if it concedes defeat on the evidence requests. Will the Cheney-Bolton wing concede? There is no evidence of it yet — and if this never happens, then Bolton hovers in purgatory for a long time.
The heavy-handed tactics the White House has used in the Bolton battle have weakened the resolve of moderate Republicans to support or push Bolton.
If the Dems stand strong — and slowly pick off Republicans — those opposed to Bolton will win an up-down vote.
We have the time to accomplish that now.
— Steve Clemons
