New pro-Bolton website [action alert] [includes poll]

For example, it appears that Lynne Finney, one of Bolton’s accusers, is less than a reliable source. Do check out her web site.
It also seems more obvious than ever, based on a Salon article dated July 16, 2003, that “the complaints about Bolton’s demeanor and temperament are simply a smokescreen for ideological objections to his pro-American worldview.”

The reason the White House is so worried about pushing the confirmation hearing back to May 12th is that they must believe that the Dems want to defeat Bolton more than the White House wants him confirmed. While it’s encouraging to see Cheney — a bona fide Bolton backer — speaking publicly, his remarks were fairly tepid, especially when compared to the VP’s repeated savaging last fall of Kedwards. All Cheney could muster was saying that there’s no evidence to substantiate the Dems’ claims; a better way to put it would have been the most honest: the Dems are lying. What the White House must do is launch a counteroffensive every bit as aggressive — and loud — as the Dems’ smear campaign. But in order for that to happen, the White House has to want Bolton confirmed more than the Dems want him sunk. Do they?

The White House is now worried that the new scheduled date for a committee vote, May 12, could give the smear campaign enough time to convert fiction into “fact.” But how did we get to this point? Simple. The White House dropped the ball. Chances are high — very high — that no one from the White House bothered to pick up the phone and talk to Voinovich. Had they taken 2 minutes to do so, they would’ve known that he played the part of stereotypical Senator who had no clue what was going on. The White House could’ve done whatever it took to assuage his concerns, and then we would’ve been having an entirely different conversation today.