Word: partisans
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...sandstorm of charges swirling around the diminutive former Senator; ignore the serious questions of sobriety, sexual escapades and the sale of Government expertise. To the beleaguered nominee for Defense Secretary, the real issue is the motivation of his judges in the Senate, who he implied were hypocrites pursuing the partisan politics of personal pique. "Is it an acceptable standard for Senators late in the evening who've had a few drinks . . . ((to)) vote on vital issues of nuclear deterrence?" Tower asked with rhetorical venom. "Is it an acceptable standard for Senators to accept honorariums, PAC contributions and paid vacations from...
...Tower debate aside, Nunn's essential bipartisanship is almost uniformly accepted by his colleagues. So much so that even before he took over Armed Services, no less a Republican partisan than Dan Quayle called Nunn the "de facto" head of the committee even though it was chaired by the G.O.P.'s Barry Goldwater...
...first, Bush swore that he would "take no part, directly or indirectly, in any partisan political activity of any kind." But that didn't satisfy Nunn and Jackson. They demanded a more explicit promise. Finally, and over Bush's objections, Ford sent Congress a letter ruling out Bush as a potential vice- presidential candidate. "Yeah, we beat him back then," says Nunn, "but you notice where he's sitting today." As for '92 and an ultimate Bush-Nunn face-off, that could make the present skirmish look like child's play...
...Democrats who spoiled the atmosphere first. "It's been so embarrassing already, what's a vote on the Senate floor?" said one operative working on Tower's behalf. "Besides, this way the Administration gets to identify exactly who's against them." Increasingly, the battle was drawn tightly along partisan lines, with pro-Tower Republicans headed by Dole facing off against Democrats lined up behind Sam Nunn, the powerful chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee...
...part, the White House hinted that it may soon ask Congress for renewed nonmilitary aid to the Nicaraguan contras, a red flag to Democrats who repeatedly fought over the contras with the Reagan Administration. Meanwhile, the public is left with an image of the Senate as a cockpit of partisan squabbling, the White House as a center of questionable decision making, and the city of Washington as Sodom- and-Gomorrah-by-the-Potomac. It's enough to make the whole town start singing a different song. Anyone for Who's Sorry...