Republicans Sow Their Oats

Not surprisingly, seeing as how pretty much everybody had been predicting it since Saturday, the Prez chose General Michael Hayden as his nominee to head the CIA. What was unexpected (although hardly surprising once it happened) is that many of the Repubs (including Speaker Denny Hastert) were unhappy with the choice. Actually when you think about it, they may not really care much one way or the other. But when the Bush people just made their pick without consulting Congress (because, after all, he's the Prez--why should they have to ask anybody?) it provided an excellent opportunity for Repubs, who are seeking reelection in just six short months, to demonstrate some distance between themselves and that guy in the White House. Whether Hastert (who echoed my speculation from Saturday that this was a Negroponte power grab) and his crew are heartfelt in their opposition to Hayden or not doesn't really matter to his chances of skating through because the illusion of not being under the White House's thumb is more important than whatever the reality of it might be. Unfortunately, with the the Repubs jumping in to oppose him, the Democrats end up taking a back seat. This AP analysis is headlined "Both Sides Critical of Bush Pick" but doesn't quote--or even mention--a single active Democrat. (It does have a quote from retired Admiral Stansfield Turner, President Carter's CIA man, who, perhaps somewhat obviously, doesn't have a problem with a military man in the post.) The Dems pick up a lot of good will these days just by being the opposition party, but I don't think it's too helpful for them simply to be taking a backseat and observing the whole shebang.