TPM: What went down last night (Mukasey)

[babylonsister]

Why Didn't Senators Running For President Vote On Mukasey?
By Greg Sargent - November 9, 2007, 2:17PM

One of the weirder aspects of last night's rush vote to confirm Michael Mukasey as AG is that none of the four Senators running for President voted on this -- despite the fact that his confirmation was a big issue in the Dem Primary. So what happened?

The question is being asked today because many opponents of Mukasey feel that his confirmation could have been stopped -- or at least slowed -- by a filibuster. Since the Senators running for President -- Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Chris Dodd -- all oppose Mukasey, they might have been likely candidates for that filibuster, or at least would have added "No" votes to the No column.

So why weren't they on hand for the vote? The answer is pretty straightforward -- but it also deepens the mystery of what really went down here.

According to Senate sources, as the Dem Senate leadership remained in closed-door negotiations with their GOP counterparts over whether to hold the vote, Senators were getting mixed signals throughout the day as to whether the vote would happen by the end of yesterday. The actual notification that there would be a vote didn't come from leadership until at least 6:30 or 7 PM last night -- catching aides on the staffs of the presidential campaigns and on the staffs of other senators off guard.

"I had my coat on and was walking out the door when I first heard about the vote," one staffer said.

The senators were notified that there would be five hours of debate, and that a vote would be happening at midnight, or possibly before, sources said.

more...

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/why_didnt_senators_running_for_president_vote_on_mukasey.php

[Neecy]

1. wtf is going on with Harry Reid?

He's rapidly becoming one of the worst Democratic majority leaders in memory...

[babylonsister]

2. And why is everything couched in secrecy? They're sounding more

and more like the party we deplore.

[sce56]

13. It might be called BLACKMAIL, When dealing with the BFEE you run up aginst that!

Just look here at a subtle msg possibly sent by the BFEE to a Democratic congressmens office.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2239198

[spotbird]

11. This story is nonsense.

Reid wouldn't cross someone who is very possibly the next president.

The story is created to deflect blame from the candidates failure to filibuster.

[OzarkDem]

3. These guys couldn't find their arse with both hands

WTF are they doing up there? Reid is either massively incompetent or corrupt. I can't decide which.

[acmavm]

4. My my my my my. This does put a new slant on things, doesn't it?

<snip?

Meanwhile, it still remains unclear exactly why the leadership suddenly declared at 6:30 P.M that there would be a vote -- and that it would have to happen by midnight at the latest.


<snip>

[OzarkDem]

5. and Reid knew some senators wouldn't have time to get back

but insisted on scheduling the vote anyway. Something stinks to high heaven here...

"Aides to one of the senators running for President said they were surprised at how adamant the leadership was that a vote would be coming so quickly -- with or without them present. One aide to this senator said that his staff told leadership that they couldn't get back for a vote until later in the night.

But, this source says, the leadership told this Senator's staff that they could not promise to hold the vote for his return. Leadership said that the vote would happen at the end of debate whether or not this senator got back in time for it, this source tells us. So this senator gave up the effort to return for the vote."

[leftchick]

14. it seems pretty clear to me

complicity

[bdamomma]

6. maybe * and cheney are putting their next sick plan in action

and they wanted to install Mukasey in right away, I do not trust this guy at all, did anyone catch what he said about the Guantanamo prisoners something like they have three meals a day, and have a Koran and a rug, and good health care? It was something to that affect, it was during the confirmation hearing, I can't remember who said it maybe Durbin.

just shows you how this guy thinks.

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. Ok this is a new spin

and it looks they were set up.

Why Harry, why?

And for the excuse filled ones, actiins speak louder than words

[bbgrunt]

8. Not that it matters, but I can't figure out who is worse: Reid or Pelosi.

They seem to be taking turns in their hits on their base. Maybe they figure that constantly diverting attention from one to the other reduces the outrage at either. I don't think that strategy is working.

[Beetwasher]

9. *sigh*

This just depresses the fuck out of me.

[robinlynne]

10. However, a filibuster could have happened with or without the four.

And, the four votes in the no column would not have changed the outcome, once the traitors moved over to the R vote.

[Junkdrawer]

12. The dog ate my homework....I ran out of gas...IT WASN'T MY FAULT...

[SeattleGirl]

15. I don't even know what to think about this.

To me, it appears that Reid and Pelosi are doing whatever they can do to keep the Dems from actually BEING the majority.

Yes, I know it's different in the Senate, when we effectively don't have a majority, but the House?

I just flat fucking don't get it.