Democrats Force Delay of Bolton Final Vote

[Bond]

Democrats forced the Senate to put off a final vote Thursday on John R. Bolton's nomination to be U.N. ambassador, the latest setback for the tough-talking nominee President Bush has called strong medicine for corruption and inefficiency at the United Nations.

Democrats contended the White House had stiff-armed the Senate over classified information on Bolton's tenure in his current job as the State Department's arms control chief, and demanded more information before the Senate can give Bolton an up-or-down vote.

Republicans needed 60 votes to end the Democrats' procedural delays and move to an immediate final vote on Bolton's confirmation. But the vote to halt the stalling was 56-42, four shy of that threshold. The final Bolton vote will not take place until at least June, after the Senate returns from a Memorial Day recess.

The dramatic roll call underscored that, despite the compromise the two parties' centrists forged just days ago in a bitter dispute over judicial nominees, most senators still had a taste for partisan confrontation over a polarizing figure like Bolton.

Democrats are delaying a vote on Bolton because they know he will win an up or down vote. There go those friendly Democrats again... filibustering away because they know they'd lose a fair up or down vote...