Chief Justice Roberts: Vote to Confirm John Roberts Will Be At Least 55 Yeas (VANITY)

senate.gov Senator websites, news.google.com | Monday, September 26, 2005 | rightcoast

[rightcoast]

Based on news releases from the websites of U.S. Senators and official statements in the press (found via news.google.com), Judge John Roberts will be confirmed as the next Chief Justice of the United States with the affirming vote of -- at minimum -- 55 U.S. Senators.

No, these aren't the 55 GOP Senators, although no Republicans are on record in opposition to Roberts' nomination. The tally includes 43 Republicans who are on record with their intention to vote yes, and 12 Democrats who have broken ranks with party leadership to put their support behind Judge Roberts.

Those Democrats who have publicly announced their support of Roberts are: Mark Pryor (D-AR), Ken Salazar (D-CO), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Max Baucus (D-MT), Kent Conrad (D-ND), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Tim Johnson (D-SD), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Herb Kohl (D-WI), and Robert Byrd (D-WV).

There are also 12 Republicans who are not implicitly on record with a commitment to vote to confirm John Roberts. Those Republicans are: Richard Shelby (R-AL), Larry Craig (R-ID), Pat Roberts (R-KS), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), David Vitter (R-LA), Christopher Bond (R-MO), Jim Talent (R-MO), Thad Cochran (R-MS), James Inhofe (R-OK), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Michael Enzi (R-WY), and Craig Thomas (R-WY).

[RWR8189]

13 Democrats have confirmed support for Roberts.

Democrats who have announced their support for Roberts (13):

Max Baucus of Montana, Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, Robert Byrd of West Virginia, Kent Conrad of North Dakota, Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, Tim Johnson of South Dakota, Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Bill Nelson of Florida, Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Ken Salazar of Colorado.

[Crazieman]

I can almost guaruntee Pat Roberts will vote for John Roberts.

[hoosiermama]

Folks in Indiana are really upset at Bayh(D) for caving in and deciding to vote NO....."Move on" was running ads against him. Apparently that was enough help him decide that a nay was in order....Another vote from Soros and company.....He certainly isn't representing Indiana.

Now Bayh's getting so many negative phone calls he's hooked up a machine...You can't even leave a message.

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

He will get at least 65 and if the Senate was still made up of honest legislators, he would get far more.

[rightcoast]

I have not seen a press release or official statement from Mary Landrieu indicating a firm commitment to vote for Roberts. It seems she is leaning towards a yes vote, though. In any event, Roberts will easily gain confirmation, because there is not a single Republican on record in opposition to him... and this includes RINO's like Chafee and Snowe, who are both actually on record in support of Roberts' nomination.

[BigSkyFreeper]

The DUmmies who will be voting in the affirmative are all up for re-election next year. Beyond that, anything below 97 votes in favor of John Roberts is a suspect vote. Ginsburg is an intellectual lightweight. Boggles the mind that she got 97 votes in the affirmative.

[Buck W.]

There are some reliable conservatives among the 12 remaining republicans. I don't think there'll be a problem...