Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton both joined a filibuster against the confirmation of John Bolton as ambassador to the UN last year, having received some additional political cover by George Voinovich's tearful opposition. Now that the White House has resubmitted Bolton for confirmation after Voinovich's reversal, one might expect them to follow Joe Biden into a repeat of a Democratic filibuster. However, the New York Sun reports that both have come under pressure from constituents to support Bolton, enough so that they have refused to openly give their positions on his confirmation:

As the Senate prepares to consider anew the nomination of John Bolton as United Nations ambassador, Senators Schumer and Clinton are facing increasing pressure from pro-Israel groups to renounce another Democratic filibuster in light of the escalating war in the Middle East.

The Foreign Relations Committee is set to hold a hearing on the nomination tomorrow, and several Democrats on the panel have voiced their unswerving opposition to Mr. Bolton's nomination.

From New York's senators, however, there has been nothing but silence. Mr. Schumer and Mrs. Clinton voted to block Mr. Bolton's confirmation a year ago, but they have not declared their positions this time around.

Aides to both senators did not respond to repeated inquiries about the Bolton nomination over the last three days.

One Jewish leader may have an idea why. The president of the Zionist Organization of America, Morton Klein, said yesterday that "important friends" of Mr. Schumer and Mrs. Clinton have confided to him that the senators are "seriously reconsidering" their position on Mr. Bolton. Mr. Klein, in a telephone interview, would not disclose the names of the friends, saying they had not given him permission to do so.

We should hope that they would reconsider their previous opposition, a position thoroughly discredited by Bolton's performance at Turtle Bay ever since his recess appointment. He has stood fast for American interests and pressed for meaningful reform at a time when the international body has obstinately refused to address rampant corruption and the co-opting of Turtle Bay by tyrannies and kleptocracies, as evidenced by the new Human Rights Council.

Biden and other Democrats want to continue their partisan obstructionism by undermining our envoy -- again -- while the US needs his tenacity and attention on a whole host of crisis situations. Biden, as before, wants to use an excuse of a superfluous document release as an excuse to sabotage American foreign policy, which belongs in the purview of the President, and not the minority caucus of the Senate. The Democrats stand on even shakier ground here than in their obstructionism on the appellate judicial appointments; the UN ambassador does not serve a lifetime appointment, after all, but leaves his post after a change in adminstrations.

Schumer and Clinton may represent a liberal state, but they have a constituency that wants the US to remain stronng on Israel, and that constituency knows that Bolton will do the job at the UN. The two Senators can hardly afford to anger the Jewish voters in New York, especially Clinton, who runs for re-election this year. They should support Bolton for the right reasons -- he's doing a great job and is the right man at the right time -- but if they can't do that, they should at least listen to their voters.

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry is

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference New York Senators Backing Away From Bolton Filibuster:

» Will Hillary and Chuck Support Bolton? from It Shines For All
"As the Senate prepares to consider anew the nomination of John Bolton as United Nations ambassador, Senators Schumer and Clinton are facing increasing pressure from pro-Israel groups to renounce another Democratic filibuster in light of the escalating... [Read More]

Tracked on July 26, 2006 9:13 AM

» Will Hillary and Chuck Support Bolton? from It Shines For All
"As the Senate prepares to consider anew the nomination of John Bolton as United Nations ambassador, Senators Schumer and Clinton are facing increasing pressure from pro-Israel groups to renounce another Democratic filibuster in light of the escalating... [Read More]

Tracked on July 26, 2006 12:28 PM

» Bolton-al Donka II from Hard Starboard
Could Chucky and Hillary provide the margin of cloture? Perhaps, but I doubt it. Mrs. Clinton isn't in any trouble for re-election, and Schumer isn't up again until 2010 and is as "bluely" entrenched as she is. I'll believe their eschewing another... [Read More]

Tracked on July 26, 2006 2:42 PM