ConfirmThem

By Paul Zummo Posted in Analysis and Predictions — Comments () / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Not that I disagree at all with anything quin said in his post about Mary Landrieu, but I would also add the name of Ken Salazar to the mix as a Democrat who could play a more moderating role in the confirmation debates. As The Corner discussed yesterday, Salazar has shown a penchant thus far for playing nice. (Though John Miller does not qute share the optimism) He was the one who introduced Alberto Gonzalez before his confirmation hearings, and proceeded to have nice things to say about him. As has been noted, he was the only Democrat to win an open-seat race in a red state last year, and he is no far-left moonbat. Moreover, he might have long-term national aspirations, and it would behoove him to play a centrist role. It is quite conceivable that, at the very least, he would be loath to filibister an Hispanic or minority candidate.

Unfortunately, Miller adds:

I was astonished to hear him speak repeatedly in his stump speech about fighting "the forces of evil." He wasn't talking about Osama bin Laden, but Karl Rove.

That of course could be simple rhetoric to fire up the base, but it does suggest he might deem himself to be on a quest to fight the forces of evil in the Bush administration. Again, though, his enthusiastic support of Gonazalez belies that interpretation to a significant extent.

It's far too early to accurately predict what kind of Senator Salazar will turn out to be, but there is room to be cautiously optimistic that he could be another voice of Democratic reason.