Mukasey confirmation now likely

The big story of the day is the confirmation battle of Mukasey, Bush's pick for Attorney General. As most people know by now, Mukasey is refusing to say whether waterboarding, which he calls "repugnant," is "illegal." Last Sunday, Chris Dodd threw the Mukasey confirmation in disarray by announcing he would oppose it, and pushing the other presidential candidates to announce they would vote no as well. Obama and Clinton thus announced they were opposing Mukasey.

Harry Reid followed this up by announcing that he would not bring the Mukasey appointment to a vote if the Judiciary Committee votes "no," which means that Democrats could block it by opposing it unanimously, since they have a 10-9 edge on the committee. One by one, the Democrats announced they were voting no, including this morning Chairman Pat Leahy. This left the swing vote to Chuck Schumer, a usually partisan Democrat caught in a bind since he had offered praise for Mukasey and had recommended him at first.

This afternoon, California Democrat Diane Feinstein saved the Mukasey nomination by announcing she would support it... meaning that opponents will NOT be able to block him in the Committee. Relieved that he was no longer the swing vote, Schumer announced he would also support Mukasey. This is the second time in two weeks Feinstein is siding with the GOP and saving an endangered Bush nominee.

If, as it now seems likely, Mukasey's nomination moves to the full Senate, opponents are unlikely to reach 40 votes to maintain a filibuster given that moderate Democrats will likely vote with Republicans. And this is not likely to play out in presidential politics anymore, given that Dodd, Clinton, Biden and Obama are all voting no. On the GOP side, John McCain hesitated for days and finally professed his belief that Mukasey does not support torture. So all GOP candidates are in support of the nomination.

Meanwhile, Bush has clearly taken the low road in his offensive to get Mukasey confirmed, implying that Democrats are hurting the war on terror by opposing Mukasey:

“Judge Mukasey is not being treated fairly,” the president said, after taking the extraordinary step of inviting a group of reporters into the Oval Office to vent his feelings. Sitting behind his desk and leaning back in his chair, Mr. Bush said he was concerned that some people may have “lost sight of the fact that we’re at war.”

Bush is arguing that Democrats have nothing to say on what type of interrogation is used, and it appears that the Senate is about to agree with him.