AIPAC helping John Bolton

[JackNewtown]

Schumer is also considering voting for Bolton apparently only because Bolton is a good advocate for Israel at the UN. Isn't the job of a US UN ambassador much more than advocating for Israel?

AIPAC's agenda is virtually identical to the neocon agenda. Those who oppose PNAC should be wary of AIPAC and those, like Hillary, who are favorites (favorite in her case, after Bush, of course) of AIPAC.

Final four paragraphs --Sen. Charles Schumer (news, bio, voting record) on Sunday said he doubts Democrats this time would be able to muster the 41 votes in the 100-member Senate needed to block the nomination.

The New York Democrat also said he was reviewing his own position, after voting last year to block him, because Bolton has been a "staunch and very good defender of Israel" at the United Nations.

"I think that if you count the votes, a filibuster is unlikely, but a lot of Democrats are deciding," Schumer said on CNN's Late Edition.

Bolton was getting help from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the powerful lobbying organization that has publicly praised him as a "strong advocate for the U.S. on issues that matter to the pro-Israel community."--

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060731/pl_nm/bush_bolton_dc_1

[w4rma]

1. If AIPAC is strongly supporting him then he is as good as in. (nt)

[everythingsxen]

3. Why is that? (NT)

[w4rma]

4. AIPAC has *much* more power than any political group that might oppose it.

AIPAC is very good at politics, as much as I disagree with their unwise warmongering.

[JackNewtown]

6. true, but its only competition is the weak pro-Arab lobby...

...which isn't saying much. It is dominant, especially in Congress, on Israel-Palestine but its overall influence is not as great as it advertises it to be. One can defy AIPAC, particularly in the House, and survive. The problem is there is no political incentive for anyone to do that. Plus AIPAC has successfully made examples of numerous members of Congress (with Ike Hilliard and Cynthia McKinney being two recent examples) and the fear generated by that causes politicians to think twice before defying AIPAC. No one wants to be the #1 target of a national AIPAC effort against them.

[H2O Man]

2. Interesting.

Bolton is among the most aggressive of the necroconservatives in the administration, when it comes to advocating the use of military force to change the map of the Middle East. Thus, one would expect AIPAC to be advocating for him.

[JackNewtown]

5. Great AIPAC support for certain Dems

You are right. What does AIPAC's great support for certain Democrats like Hillary and Joementum tell us about such Democrats?