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The Plank
The presidential race has stabilized, Nate Silver determines after reading several new polls. One shows John McCain surging ahead in Florida, while another shows Barack Obama up 10 points in New Jersey, but, overall, opinion is solidifying to show the ... READ MORE

Daily Kos
Barack Obama piqued the public’s attention to unprecedented levels early on, but now voters are sore from turning their heads too quickly and appear to be tired of hearing about him, Bill in Portland Maine quips. Lower-income Americans would see ... READ MORE

MyDD
Paris Hilton expressed a position on energy more coherently than John McCain has in her web video responding to the Republican candidate’s ad, Todd Beeton declares. The McCain camp’s response to Hilton - a spokesman claimed Hilton had seemingly endorsed ... READ MORE

RedState
The stimulus checks sent out by the federal government this summer have not had their desired effect, as Americans have either saved the money or used it to pay down debt, Pejman Yousefzadeh proclaims. Now it’s up to the press ... READ MORE

Drudge Report
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has sold 2,737 copies of her new book in its first week, Drudge’s main headline reads this morning. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) may push for Democratic delegates to vote her as the party’s nominee ... READ MORE

The Huffington Post
Today’s lead headline at The Huffington Post warns readers that the U.S. has reached a grave milestone in Afghanistan: 500 U.S. military deaths. As the blog’s pundits sound off, both presidential candidates will work feverishly to frame the election around issues of ... READ MORE

Daily Kos
Barack Obama piqued the public’s attention to unprecedented levels early on, but now voters are sore from turning their heads too quickly and appear to be tired of hearing about him, Bill in Portland Maine quips. Lower-income Americans would see a greater ... READ MORE

Townhall.com
Those who said they were offended by John McCain’s ad comparing Barack Obama to celebrities may want to think again, as George Clooney will host a fundraiser for Obama in Geneva, Switzerland, Carol Platt Liebau suggests. Clooney’s help proves John McCain was ... READ MORE

The Huffington Post
The New York Times story on the Iraqi government's failure to spend up to $79 billion, much of which has come from the United States, leads the Post. Though John McCain says he'll battle Big Oil, his campaign is partially ... READ MORE

Drudge Report
Paris Hilton's response mocking John McCain for using an image of her to attack Barack Obama leads the Drudge Report. In other political links, Drudge highlights stories on approval for McCain from bikers during his visit to Sturgis, S.D., the ... READ MORE

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May 16, 2008

Controversial FEC Nominee Withdraws

@ 6:38 pm by Andy Barr

The Hill's J. Taylor Rushing has the story.

Controversial nominee Hans von Spakovsky withdrew his nomination from the Federal Election Commission on Friday, potentially ending a standoff that had crippled the FEC.

In a letter to Bush, von Spakovsky cited the two-and-a-half-year length of his pending nomination and said the process “has been extremely hard on my family.”

Quite frankly, we do not have the financial resources to continue to wait until this matter is resolved,” von Spakovsky wrote.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) termed the news "a victory for our electoral process" and said he anticipated the Senate would "swiftly put a functioning FEC in place."

White House spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore said President Bush “reluctantly” accepted the withdrawal and that the paperwork will go to Congress next week.

The FEC is supposed to have six commissioners, but only has two confirmed because of a standoff in the Senate over von Spakovsky. Republicans had refused to move Democratic FEC nominees unless Democrats allowed von Spakowsky’s nomination to proceed.

Because of the impasse, there are not enough FEC commissioners to hold a quorum and it has not been able to rule on a number of issues, including public financing inquiries from presumptive GOP nominee Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

Democrats accused von Spakovsky of not supporting voting rights for minorities when he was an official with the Department of Justice. Republicans have repeatedly defended him and said the charges are unfair.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he was “deeply disappointed,” complaining that Democrats obstructed “a highly qualified nominee” who was treated “deplorably.”

“Senate Democrats have politicized one more function of the legislative branch that had traditionally been a partisan-free zone,” McConnell said in a statement. “Liberal interest groups did their best to manufacture controversy and once again, Senate Democrats played along.”

Reid said  van Spakovsky was "not qualified to hold any position of trust in our government."

Campaign Legal Center spokesman David Vance said his group was “relieved.”

“We’ve said all along we don’t believe he deserves to be confirmed to a position enforcing our nation’s election laws after his record at the Department of Justice,” Vance said.

Archived under: Administration, Lawmaker News, News





2 Comments »

The Hill welcomes comment from anyone and will almost always post it whether it is favorable or critical, as long as it is substantive and advances debate.
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