Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy etched a prediction in stone on Thursday when he declared that Attorney General nominee Eric Holder would not just be confirmed for the post, but would pass with wide Republican support.
"The bottom line is, Eric Holder is going to be confirmed and he will have an awful lot of Republican votes for that confirmation," said the Vermont Democrat, whose committee will oversee Holder's confirmation.
Leahy's statement, delivered during a press conference touting support of Holder from various law enforcement agencies, comes as Republican opposition to the potential AG has grown louder and more united. In recent days the ranking Republican on Judiciary, Arlen Specter, has complained about not being consulted about the nomination and suggested that Holder would be nothing more than a "yes man" for Barack Obama.
Leahy dismissed these complaints as partisan drivel, spurred by longtime Democratic nemesis Karl Rove.
"The tone [of the GOP] changed almost immediately after Karl Rove was on the Today Show and explained that this was a nominee of Barack Obama and that the Republicans should oppose it," said Leahy. "Now, as you know, in a totally unprecedented fashion, the weekly caucuses that Republican and Democrats hold, are usually just for senators only. The Republicans broke with precedent and had Vice President Cheney and Karl Rove sitting in their caucus. Many told me privately that it made it nearly impossible for anyone to have a dissenting voice.... I think some have forgotten that Karl Rove is no longer in the administration and is certainly not going to be in the upcoming administration. They are too used to taking their orders from him. Frankly Senators should be independent."
One of the main arguments put forward by Democrats has been that Republican support for Alberto Gonzales -- the former and widely criticized Bush administration Attorney General -- nullifies any complaints they have about Holder's qualifications.
"I'm somewhat concerned that some have tried to move the bar when it comes to considering Mr. Holder's nomination," said Leahy. "Not a single Republican member of the Senate voted against the nomination of Alberto Gonzales. Nor has a single one has ever said that was a mistake in voting for [Gonzales]."
But there is an equally compelling argument to make: Democrats on Judiciary gave George W. Bush the benefit of doubt when it came to Gonzales. Some, in fact, even applauded the choice.
"I think he's a pretty solid guy," Senator Joseph Biden Jr., said of Gonzales at the time. "If you had said to me six months ago I can have Gonzales or Ashcroft, it wouldn't have been a hard choice."
Gonzales' nomination, history shows, went on to be a major embarrassment for the Bush administration. But there was a license granted to the president in making that decision back then, and Democrats could argue that the same standard should hold true now.