The Wall Street Journal editorial page breaks down the Roberts confirmation vote:
John Roberts was sworn in yesterday as the 17th Chief Justice of the United States. No surprises there. The confirmation vote was 78-22, with all 55 Republicans, 22 Democrats, and Independent Jim Jeffords voting "aye." He'll take up his gavel on Monday, when the Supreme Court begins its 2005-2006 term.
As a snapshot of the state of the Democratic Party, the vote is instructive. It was mostly a red-blue split. Thirteen Senators from states that went for President Bush in 2004 were pro-Roberts, including the five who are up for re-election next year. As they cast their votes, we expect that Jeff Bingaman (N.M.), Robert Byrd (W. Va.), Kent Conrad (N.D.), Bill Nelson (Fla.) and Ben Nelson (Neb.) had visions of Tom Daschle dancing in their heads. The former Majority Leader lost his seat last year in part because South Dakotans objected to his obstruction of Mr. Bush's judicial picks.
A very different calculation was apparently on the minds of the party's likely 2008 Presidential hopefuls. The "no" votes included John Kerry, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, none of whom wanted to alienate the party's energized left-wing base. Even ostensible "moderate" Evan Bayh, of Judge Roberts's home state of Indiana, couldn't bring himself to vote for a native son.
The honorable exception here was Wisconsin's Russ Feingold, a liberal in most matters, but perhaps one who understands that if he ever would become President, he'd prefer to have his nominees treated by Republicans with more than a party-dictated dismissal.
The full roll call is here. Make sure to also see the prediction and analysis of the Roberts vote at Keith Poole's Voteview.com.
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