Bush Can't Give Up His Bolton Fix

George W. Bush never learns. He couldn't get John Bolton confirmed with a Republican majority. He certainly doesn't have a chance with Democrats taking control of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

With Democrats capturing control of the next Congress, Bolton's chances of winning confirmation appear slim at best. In fact, last week the incoming chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Democratic Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, said he saw "no point in considering Mr. Bolton's nomination again."

"We're putting him up for confirmation," White House chief of staff Josh Bolten said Sunday. "I think if he actually was able to get a vote in the full Senate, he would succeed."

Democrats aren't confirming Bolton. Regardless, if the vote makes the floor. Republicans want the Bolton mess to go away. Bush has zero political collateral with Republicans. Bolton doesn't have the likability that John Roberts had going for him during his confirmation.

The Bolton nomination is dead and neither Bush or Bolton have the political savvy to keep it alive. The United Nations Ambassador is not something that Bush can use as a wedge issue. Most people could care less. Personally, I always found it rather humorous that Bolton was appointed to an international institution he hates. The White House knew Bolton had no chance of being confirmed to Secretary of State. Condoleezza Rice wasn't going to keep him in State.

Bolton's time at the State Department under Rice has been brief. But authoritative officials said Bolton let her go on her first European trip without knowing about the growing opposition there to Bolton's campaign to oust the head of the U.N. nuclear agency. "She went off without knowing the details of what everybody else was saying about how they were not going to join the campaign," according to a senior official. Bolton has been trying to replace Mohamed ElBaradei, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, who is perceived by some within the Bush administration as too soft on Iran.

Publicly, Rice has staunchly defended Bolton's credentials and urged the Senate to quickly confirm him. But privately, officials said, she has kept him out of key discussions on Iran since taking over in January.

What a guy.

Update: Lincoln Chafee will not vote, in committe, to move the Bolton vote to the floor.

“The American people have spoken out against the president’s agenda on a number of fronts, and presumably one of those is on foreign policy. And at this late stage in my term, I’m not going to endorse something the American people have spoken out against.”

Chafee has never been a fan of Bolton. He wrote a letter to Condoleezza Rice voicing his displeasure.

I write to you with regard to the nomination of John Bolton to be US Representative to the United Nations. Today, the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations was scheduled to have a vote on Mr. Bolton's nomination. The decision on whether to hold that vote is in the Chairman of the Committee's hands. Chairman Lugar decided to hold the vote over to a later date, and I support that decision.

It is no secret that I have serious questions about this Administration's policies in the Middle East. As we tackle enormous problems in the region, most notably with Iran and Iraq, I believe we need to be successful in forging alliances. A critical part of that work is accomplished by our Ambassador to the UN.

Bolton has never been about forging alliances. He cares even less about third world countris. Bolton skipped a trip to Sudan to speak at a conservative think tank. Bolton was against any mention of the Millennium Development Goals during the United Nations World Summit. The UN website explains what the MDGs are.

The eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015 – form a blueprint agreed to by all the world’s countries and all the world’s leading development institutions. They have galvanized unprecedented efforts to meet the needs of the world’s poorest.

Bolton felt these noble goals were unworthy of mention. There is something seriously heartless about the man.