The Daily Background
| Breaking: Gates confirmed as Secretary of Defense… 95-2
by Arlen Parsa
Donald Rumsfeld’s replacement as Secretary of Defense was been confirmed by the US Senate a very short time ago, in a vote of 95-2 (three Senators did not participate, both negative votes came from Republicans: Rick Santorum, R-Pa., and Jim Bunning, R-Ky because they thought he wasn’t conservative enough). Gates will not be sworn in officially until December 18.
Also, note the Senators who chose not to vote- Joseph Biden, Evan Bayh, Elizabeth Dole. Who knows why Dole does what she does (and who cares, really), but it’s significant that the two Dems who didn’t vote are both likely 2008 Presidential contenders. I don’t know why this is significant, but it surely is. There are several reasons why Senators don’t vote on some things- for example they’re elsewhere, or sometimes they choose not to vote because it’s already pretty much decided (they know their vote won’t make a difference), and they don’t want the vote to be on their record as a legislator, for it to be used against them later…
…In, say, a future Presidential campaign. Recall the how often the Bush Administration talked about various votes Senator Kerry had made during the 2004 elections (”he voted for X before he voted against X” etc etc etc). That’s one of the reasons why it’s particularly tough for Senators– especially longtime Senators have a tough time running for higher office later on. Their non-Senate opponents bring up old votes they’ve made, especially stuff with controversial sounding names (cough cough, “ban on partial-birth abortions”) to use against them. That is one of the reasons why people say Obama should run sooner rather than later: a long Senate career means a long legislative laundry list, meaning that statistically the more he stays in the Senate, the more he becomes damaged goods.
Now, all of that said, why would Biden and Bayh not want to vote on Gates’ confirmation? He seems more or less moderate, just like them. I have no idea what they’re thinking, but it obviously means they both agree that Iraq will still be a major issue come 2008.
