Playing nice doesn't work. The GOPers see it as weakness. And, they're manipulating the Senate, which is stunning since there are 60 Democratic Senators:
During his first nine months in office, Obama has won confirmation in the Democratic-controlled Senate for just three of his 23 nominations for federal judgeships, largely because Republicans have used anonymous holds and filibuster threats to slow the proceedings to a crawl.I'm sure it took a lot for Wade Henderson to go public with this criticism. But, we learned the hard way that the Obama administration only responds to pressure from its friends. The White House spends an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out how to assuage Republicans. And, by now, someone in the Obama brain trust should have figured out that it's not working -- and it won't work. The Republicans want him to fail. Our side actually wants him to succeed -- and to fulfill his campaign promises.
But some Democrats attribute that GOP success partly to the administration's reluctance to fight, arguing that Obama's emphasis on easing partisan rancor over judgeships has backfired and only emboldened Senate Republicans.
Some Republicans contend that the White House has hurt itself by its slow pace in sending over nominations for Senate consideration. President George W. Bush sent 95 names to the Senate in the same period that Obama has forwarded 23.
"I commend the president's effort to change the tone in Washington," said Wade Henderson, executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. "I recognize that he is extending an olive branch to Republicans on the Judiciary Committee and in the Senate overall. But so far, his efforts at reconciliation have been met with partisan hostility."
I'm just surprised there wasn't a quote in this article from an anonymous Senate Democratic aide telling us how silly we are for expecting the 60-member Democratic Senate caucus to actually confirm judges.
