Lessons for Bush
January 10, 2001
It is truly a shame that Linda Chavez was forced to withdraw her name as nominee for Secretary of Labor. The country is surely worse off for it, not only because of the loss of her services but also because of what it says about the state of our politics.
It is to be hoped that George W. Bush understands the basic lesson from this episode, namely that the Left will stop at nothing to defeat anyone with conservative credentials. With their success in overturning Chavez, they will be greatly encouraged in their fight against their real target, Attorney General nominee John Ashcroft.
Fox News reported that forty-five liberal interest groups, including the very left-leaning People for the American Way, National Organization for Women, and ACLU, have banded together to defeat Ashcroft. It has become a liberal cause celebre. These are the people who stuck by President Clinton through his darkest impeachment days, not because they liked him but because Clinton's ouster would have been the liberals' worst nightmare: a "win" for conservatives. Their every waking moment is dedicated to preventing such a calamity.
Despite a herculean effort, liberals have not be able to uncover anything such as the "nanny problem" that brought down Zoe Baird, Kimba Wood, and Linda Chavez. (The hypocrisy with which this "rule" has been applied was pointed out by John Fund of the WSJ, who said it was overlooked for many others, including Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.) A long anti-Ashcroft piece in the Village Voice contains only discussion of Ashcroft's voting record and such things as his having accepted an honorary degree from Bob Jones University. A rejection by the Senate on the basis of policy positions on the part of a cabinet appointee would be unprecedented, the convention being that the Senate defers to the President's choices for such positions. Confirmation of federal judges is a different matter for the very good reason that they have life tenure.
Whether senators will be swayed by their rantings remains to be seen, but statements by some Democrats do not bode well. Senators Kerry and Dashle, at least, have said concerning the scraps that liberals have come up with that "these are serious questions." This signals their willingness to vote against Ashcroft on the policy questions raised and that they will wait to see which way the wind is blowing in the few weeks from now when they'll be voting.
As many have pointed out, Sen. Ashcroft is supremely well qualified by experience for Attorney General. His resume towers over that of Janet Reno at the time of her nomination in 1993. I don't suppose it makes any difference to Democrats today, but Reno was confirmed 98-0.