Voinovich to the Rescue?!

Watching the hearings ... Hagel just said he will vote in committee to send the nomination to the floor, but just following that Senator Voinovich of Ohio, who was not at the committee hearings last week, began a statement by saying "I've heard enough today that I don't feel comfortable voting for John Bolton" and said that he wishes he could have more time to consider the question before a vote is taken.

MORE SOON.

[Update: Chafee asked Lugar if considering Voinovich's comments he sees any difficulty going forward with a vote. Lugar said no ... vote still appears likely -- 4:40 p.m.]

[More Update: Hagel has requested in light of Voinovich's sentiment that the committee act in a unanimous way and delay the vote in order to examine the issues further. After an inane parliamentary question from George Allen (somebody forgot to brief him on how voting works, apparently), Chafee joined Hagel in asking for a delay. -- 4:52 p.m.]

[Ditto: A delay is looking more and more likely ... the committee is discussing the details of a delay of several weeks, and Biden has committed to Lugar that there could be a final vote after a to-be-determined period of further investigation. -- 4:59 p.m.]

[Ditto: It's done. Unanimous agreement to continue investigating; committee to reconvene in no less than two weeks following the Senate's April recess. Lugar does not rule out calling Bolton back in for more testimony. Analysis momentarily. -- 5:03 p.m.]

[Update & Analysis: Well then! What was presumed by most at the start of the day and even at the start of the hearing to be a done deal has now turned into a serious dilemma for the Bush Administration. Because of George Voinovich's courageous refusal to go along with an immediate vote on the Bolton nomination, there will be several more weeks (approximately three, from what I'm hearing) for analysis of Bolton's record before a vote is taken on his nomination by the Foreign Relations Committee.

Credit must be given to Senators Dodd, Biden, Kerry, Boxer and Sarbanes for their strong statements this afternoon questioning the need for an immediate vote; if we take Senator Voinovich at his word, it was their comments today which made him sufficiently uncomfortable to suggest that he wouldn't be able to support the Bolton nomination today.

I really do have to give major thumbs down to Senators Hagel and Chafee, on several counts: Hagel for saying that he would vote to send the nomination to the floor but then saying that he might not vote for him on the floor (i.e. "I will vote to send him to the floor when I could stop it, but when my vote might not because because the Republicans have 55 votes, then I might vote my conscience"). And both Hagel and Chafee for their plaintive chime-ins suggesting a delay only after Voinovich led the way. No way for charging moderates to behave, if I may say so ... and exactly the reason why people get away with calling us things like irrelevant.

Senator Voinovich earned a great deal of respect in my book today. He stood up and did what no one else would, showing the marks of a true leader. Yeah, in the end he may decide to vote for Bolton ... but at least he gives the country more time to learn about the man and his record.

As always, Steve Clemons is the go-to guy on all things Bolton. I will provide more analysis and links to news stories over the course of the evening, but here's an early piece from ABC. I'm also going to try and find some photographs of a few senatorial faces during the Voinovich bombshell - I have not doubt there were some priceless expressions! -- 5:50 p.m.]