No vote for Bolton

As if we needed more evidence of just how radioactive the foreign policies of the Bush administration are in this election year, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this afternoon postponed a vote to confirm John Bolton as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

The vote had been in the works for at least two months, since Ohio Republican Sen. George Voinovich announced in July that he would vote for Bolton’s confirmation. With Voinovich on board, the decision was in the hands of two Bush administration skeptics, Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, the second and third ranking Republicans on the committee, respectively. Apparently confident that Bolton would get a pass with both, SFRC Chairman Richard Lugar scheduled a vote for today. But it was canceled this afternoon, after Chafee apparently said he had “questions that were not answered.” It would take only one Republican “nay” vote to deadlock the committee.

Haven’t we seen this all before? Indeed. Chafee eventually voted for Bolton in 2005 after playing similar games. This time around, though, Chafee is facing a tough reelection battle with a Sept. 12 primary and may be less inclined to support Bolton on the record. Some in the foreign policy community thought Bolton might have an easier go of it this time around, for two reasons. The first is that his confirmation vote is coming on the heels of the Israel-Lebanon war, in which Bolton was a key supporter of Israel. The second is that at least a few Dems might not want to be seen as obstructionist in this election year. Neither appears to be playing out, at least at this point.