Word: waller
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...Waller: Yes. The interesting thing, of course, about this kind of margin is that it would have been enough to maintain a filibuster, if [Senator Edward] Kennedy had gathered the support to forge ahead and [Democrat Senate leader Tom] Daschle had welcomed the idea. There's no appetite here for a hard fight. What we've seen from all this is that Democrats just aren't as good at guerrilla legislating as the Republicans are. The Dems are out of shape - they haven't had to do this for eight years, after...
...Waller: I think so; instead they decided to concentrate on sending a message, both to Bush and to their supporters. The Ashcroft opposition really was about limbering up the mailing lists, and really energizing civil rights, abortion rights and gun control groups...
...Waller: Senator Russ Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat who has announced his support for the Ashcroft nomination, said yesterday that he and other moderates were willing to give Bush this one free pass - but if it's reciprocated by sending hard-right nominees for Senate confirmation to judicial posts, some of the moderate Democrats will fight back. If I had to guess, I'd say they might try to pick off a really conservative assistant AG candidate...
...Waller: To a certain extent Kennedy's return is like a revival of the old war horse. Kennedy's very close to the liberal groups who opposed this nomination - much more so than other senators. So his position on Ashcroft isn't really all that surprising...
...Waller: Yes, but Feingold is a real independent, and he's also worried about setting a precedent for opposing nominations solely on the basis of ideology - and he worries that future liberal appointees would face retaliation if the fight over Ashcroft had gotten bloody...