[UPDATE] I am reminded in comments that Chris Coons is actually up for re-election in 2014 (special election in 2010). Mystery solved!
Yeah, I know: bad people need lawyers, too. But this guy was… provocative.
Opponents of President Obama’s nominee to head the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division prevailed in blocking his confirmation Wednesday, as he failed to clear a procedural hurdle.
Several Senate Democrats joined with Republicans in voting against Debo Adegbile, whose nomination was adamantly and vocally opposed by conservatives due to his participation in an appeal filed on behalf of Mumia Abu-Jamal — an internationally-known prisoner convicted of the 1981 murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner.
Interesting list there, too:
Other* Democrats who voted against the Obama nominee were Chris Coons (Del.),Bob Casey (Pa.), Mark Pryor (Ark.), Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), Joe Manchin (W.V.), Joe Donnolly (Ind.) and John Walsh (Mont.).
With the exception of Coons, pretty much everybody on that list is deeply, deeply terrified of having that ‘Yes’ vote on their slates for the next election (including Casey, who is after all a Senator from Pennsylvania). And for all I know: so is Chris Coons**. Turns out that cop-killer lawyers who go to the mat for Mumia aren’t popular. Who knew?
…Well, obviously Barack Obama didn’t know. But we worked that out already.
Moe Lane
*Harry Reid voted no for procedural reasons, once it became clear that the vote wouldn’t go through.
**He’s the odd man out on this vote. I wonder how many people are screaming at him now? Ach, well, don’t actually care.
Chris Coons is up for reelection in 2014 ( 2010 was a special)
He is currently praying Beau Biden doesn’t develop a sense of “entitlement” and Beau being a former Major General( I think) in the DE National Guard as well as DE’s current AG would very gleefully use the “Law and Order” bat against a fellow Democrat. And the DE police unions would be very accommodating towards that goal.
Good point.
As someone pointed out Hagan voted yes, because right now her boss is the head of the NAACP in NC.
She can’t afford him to sit out the election.
But neither can she afford the police unions voting against her.
I’m guessing she is one of the reasons Reid supposedly begged the administration to pull the nominee.
Mumia is just the biggest gun used to reject Debo Adegbile. Hear a list of reasons as presented by Mitch McConnell
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FUVamYlpyM