The State Department is the focus of Democratic outrage for now. Although Kerry and other Democrats will raise a stink about Bush's nominees, they aren't showing any signs of trying to defeat the nominations, which Senate staffers privately say are virtually certain to win confirmation. Interest groups that oppose Bolton, Reich and Negroponte say many senators fear angering powerful Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Jesse Helms, R-N.C., an avid supporter of all three. Senate Democratic staffers also say that their bosses believe the slim chance of winning a confirmation fight in an evenly divided Senate must be weighed carefully against the political risk of opposing a nomination and losing. Clearly, senators are uncomfortable with Bolton and his positions and his background.
Democrats clearly have questions.
Among the arms-control accords he has opposed is the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which President Clinton signed in 1996 but the Senate refused to ratify. He angered Senate Democrats when he refused to provide requested documents during confirmation hearings of two Supreme Court nominees. And the Reagan White House slapped him down for criticizing independent counsels investigating the Reagan administration. Bolton also was president of the tax-exempt National Policy Forum, a GOP subsidiary, but left the post shortly before a 1997 congressional probe into whether the group illegally took foreign donations during the 1996 election. No charges were filed.