By a vote of 17 to 2, Eric Holder’s confirmation vote has been voted out of committee and onto the Senate floor.
The votes against him were John Cornyn of Texas, and Tom Coburn of Olkahoma. Senator Specter, who is the ranking Republican on the committee, voted yes. Cornyn did mention gun rights among his reasons for voting no. No doubt Coburn shared some concern also.
I anxiously await commentators suggesting if the NRA had just made this a “key vote” we could have turned around the eight votes needed, while they simultaneously denounce the NRA for being ineffectual.
UPDATE: One commenter suggests the use of a hold. A hold in this case isn’t going to stop the vote from happening on the floor.  A hold is basically a Senator telling the Senate Majority Leader that he does not wish a particular matter brought to the floor.  The Majority Leader can either heed the hold, or ignore it.  Typically a hold is used as an indication that the Senator would filibuster the vote.  It worked to stop the vote on Mike Sullivan because Harry Reid didn’t have much of a reason to ignore a Republican hold on their own President’s nominee.  In this case, Obama is going to be expecting Reid to deliver on his nominations, and Reid will almost certainly comply.  Given that 6 Republicans on the Judiciary Committee already voted yes to pass Holder’s confirmation onto the floor, the Republicans don’t have a filibuster.  Any threat of one will be empty, and Reid will know that, since the votes are already there for cloture.
We don’t need eight votes against him in committee, we need one senator to place a hold on him. Are you suggesting that the NRA doesn’t have the political muscle to lean on one senator? Not one? Either Cornyn or Coburn would do.
Matt:
I updated the post with an explanation of why a hold isn’t going to work in this case.
I’m really beginning to hate the Senate rules.
The Republicans are going to be hard pressed maintaining any filibusters with the razor margin they have. All it takes is one defection, and the Democrats will have enough for cloture.
Nope. no “told you so” here. The NRA only acts when it’s politically expedient to do so. Damn the principle, damn the members. This also opens the door for the antis to continue saying “see, the NRA couldn’t and wouldn’t do anything”.
This was a wasted opportunity for the NRA. But, I suppose that’s OK, I’ve stopped funding them and will not renew my membership.
I want NRA to act only when it’s politically expedient to do so. There is no principle in politics. It’s horse trading. Imagine what the antis would be saying if NRA twisted arms and still lost? We were not in a strong position to defeat Holder. That’s just how it is. The time to fight Holder was in November.
See? And I want an organization that I support financially to act when its RIGHT. GOA, JPFOA make the grade – for me.
The only problem with that is JPFO is forbidden by its tax status from participating in political lobbying, and no one on Capitol Hill is worried that GOA can threaten their seat if they ignore them. I don’t bemoan your choice, because those organizations are useful for other reasons, but influence on Capitol Hill is not among them.
Being right feels good, but that’s about all its useful for. There’s a lot of things which are right, but which make for poor strategy. The French were right to resist the Wehrmacht, but that doesn’t mean the Maginot line was a great use of French military resources.
I think it’s time we remove legacy politicians like Specter
The problem with removing Specter has always been who he’d be replaced with. We had our chance with Toomey, and I like Pat Toomey, but I don’t think he was going to beat Joe Hoeffel.
Sebastian: “There is no principle in politics.”
Then it’s time to introduce some.
Then it’s time to introduce some.
It’s a laudable goal, but the nature of politicians is to be more concerned about keeping their seats than most other matters. Staying in office is their core principle. The only way you can get them to adhere to your principles is to be able to threaten or help secure that seat.