Quotes from the Papers

- Senator Olympia Snowe, one of the Maine Moderates, says in the Washington Post that she is "saddened" by Senator Jeffords' retirement announcement. Snowe apparently agrees with my thoughts on the departure, telling the Post it's yet another sign that "we're losing the center at an alarming rate." For a few more thoughts on the role of moderates I suggest this from Joe Gandelman at The Moderate Voice, and this from the Centrist Coalition (and there's always me from yesterday if you missed it).

- David Broder in the Post offers up yet another excellent argument against the nuclear option: it would increase still further the influence of extremist interest groups on judicial nominations, and serve to keep those interest groups going by giving them constant fresh meat with which to rile up their activists. Broder: "[I]t is remarkable that the United States Senate is considering reducing itself to a smaller version of the House of Representatives by curtailing its long tradition of unlimited debate merely to satisfy the imperatives of rival interest groups. And it is not too late for cool reason to prevent this from happening." David Brooks also notes the destructive effect the nuclear option would have on the "fabric of Senate life".

- The Albany (NY) Times Union editorializes against the Bolton nomination today, saying "To continue to support Mr. Bolton means ignoring a troubling trend. His harsh and dismissive attitude toward the very institution where he wants to serve, and to diplomacy in general, carries over into the way he does his job." The editorial goes on to note that a final vote on Bolton can't come now until mid-May, adding "By then ... his nomination could be dead on the vine. Let's hope so."