Salazar to vote against Alito

[ProSense]

u.s. supreme court

Salazar to vote against Alito

By DenverPost.com
DenverPost.com

U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar of Colorado today announced he is opposed to Supreme Court nominee Judge Samuel Alito, saying he "will move the Supreme Court outside the mainstream of American law."

Salazar, a Democrat, earlier voted in favor of Chief Justice John Roberts, President Bush's previous choice for the high court.

The freshman senator gained attention when he joined the so-called Gang of 14, the bipartisan agreement by 14 senators to preserve the right to block certain judicial appointees by Bush through the debating tactic known as the filibuster in exchange for up-or-down votes on other court picks.

But that coalition has seemed to come apart in recent weeks, as there do not appear to be enough votes in the Senate to sustain a filibuster over Alito.

http://www.denverpost.com/nationalpolitics/ci_3418026

[tavalon]

1. Yay!

DINOs do come home occasionally!

I'm guessing we can't rely on Joementum, though, eh?

[ananda]

2. Errmmm...

Reality check.

These votes against Alito are meaningless.

A filibuster is the only response to such a creepy nominee.

Or else leave the chamber and shut down the legislature.

Sue

[patrice]

3. So that makes 6 ?

Kennedy
Mikluski
Feinstein
Baucus
Leahy
Salazar

[Hardrada]

9. & Harkin

[bush_is_wacko]

4. Good! The jury is still out on Salazar IMO but at least he's attempting

to do the right thing this time!

Actually, I think Salazar IS one of the good guys but I think he initially faltered a bit. Hopefully, this is a permanent turnaround.

[otohara]

6. He's A Member Of The Gang of 14

don't exactly know why he felt the need to join a gang.

[DaveinMD]

8. he never faltered

he's smart. Roberts was going to be confirmed. Voting for Roberts made him appear moderate and allowed him leeway to vote against a more extreme choice that was coming down the road. It was smart politics.

[bush_is_wacko]

13. Actually I wasn't referring to nominees. I was referring to the fact that

despite his rather distinguished career here in Colorado he neglected to investigate any election fraud irregularities and, in a letter to me dated February 11, 2005 wrote (I) "Do not believe, however, that the irregularities were of a ,magnitude to require that the results of the election be overturned." He voted against Barbara Boxer's objection to certification of Ohio's electoral votes and, to my knowledge, continues to stand by that vote despite the mountains of evidence that the 2004 election was stolen by this administration on a nationwide basis. It was and is a disappointment to someone who has seen his ability to uncover the truth in operation for many years here in Colorado. He SHOULD be looking harder into those irregularities rather than easily dismissing them the way he did.

That is the reason the jury should still be out on this man. He is, admittedly, in no win situation with regards to who is in power in the senate but that doesn't mean he should have put a stolen election on the back-burner. I do not see any evidence that he is involved in any way with the current investigations and allegations regarding that event. I occasionally read that others have not forgotten ad are still uncovering evidence and trying to bring them to light but his name never comes up.

[Nederland]

14. I think Salazar

...is doing the best he can in a fairly Red state.

[otohara]

5. No Reason To Piss Off 1/2 of Colorado

since we have Allard to vote yes.

[tnlefty]

7. I called a friend in CO yesterday to let her know that I'd contacted both

of her senators. She laughed at Allard, but I told her the same thing that I tell my kids, "at least I tried." Good on Salazaar.

[otohara]

10. Calling Allard - Total Waste of Time

I didn't bother either.

[patrice]

11. I've called and faxed Brownback and Roberts anyway, just to

bug them.

[tnlefty]

12. Like calling both of my senators, FrankenFrist and Alexander, wasn't a

waste of time. Both are rubberstamps for Dimson**, but I did it anyway just so my kids will know that I did what I could.

[bush_is_wacko]

15. Allard is definitely a waste of time although he did finally stop

sending me his ridiculous flyer's after I tore one up and mailed it back to his office. He probably had me added to some terror watch list as a result. He's a hard liner. He'll never go against the thugs!

[paulk]

16. makes me wonder what's going on behind the scenes

that one of the "gang of fourteen", who's widely seen as a centrist, would declare his intentions so early.

His statement was interesting also - in that Salazar didn't mention the abortion issue, instead focusing on Alito as "outside of the mainstream of American law". As a former state AG, Salazar's opinion on the law carries some weight.

Could this be a message to moderate Republicans?

Or a message to moderate Democrats ?