WASHINGTON — For the three Republican senators who have expressed reservations about John R. Bolton's nomination as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, the committee vote set for Thursday is about much more than whether he is the best man for the job.
When they gather with their colleagues on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for their final consideration of Bolton, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island and George V. Voinovich of Ohio will carry vastly different political calculations and ambitions that may factor as much in their decisions as anything revealed about the nominee by dozens of witnesses and hundreds of documents.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday May 11, 2005 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 2 inches; 73 words Type of Material: Correction
Bolton nomination -- An article in Tuesday's Section A about the nomination of John R. Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.) would be on the ballot for his seat for the first time next year. In fact, Chafee ran for election in 2000, defeating Democratic challenger Robert A. Weygand. Chafee was appointed to his seat in 1999 after the death of his father, Sen. John Chafee.
Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.), the committee chairman, says he is confident that all three will join with their GOP colleagues on the panel and send Bolton's nomination to the Senate floor on a party-line vote -- with the 10 Republicans recommending his appointment and the eight Democrats voting against it.
Voinovich shocked his GOP colleagues when he sided with Democrats in delaying a vote on Bolton at an April 19 committee meeting.
Senior administration officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney, reportedly have contacted Voinovich, Hagel and Chafee seeking to answer their questions about Bolton and to rebut Democratic allegations that he is unfit to serve as U.N. ambassador.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan publicly urged Voinovich to meet with Bolton before the vote. The senator's staff declined to say whether such a meeting would occur.
With the administration putting on a full-court press, Democrats say they would be surprised if Voinovich, Hagel or Chaffee were to break ranks and hand Bush an embarrassing political setback.
In the end, both sides say, the questions raised about Bolton's personality and management style may prove less important to the wavering senators than issues of principle and political pragmatism.
A vote against Bolton, said Tony Fabrizio, a Republican pollster, "poses the most danger for Hagel," who is widely believed to be laying the groundwork for a 2008 presidential race.
Bolton, the undersecretary of State for arms control and international security, has publicly criticized the United Nations -- one reason he has received strong support from the party's conservative base, Fabrizio said.
"If you're going to run for president," Fabrizio said, "how you vote [on Bolton] says something about your take on foreign policy."
