Quin Hilyer sums up the raw partisan power play of Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy to oppose Peter Keisler for judge on the DC Circuit:

A moderate conservative, his credentials for a judgeship at the same D.C. Court of Appeals are so strong that even the left-leaning editorial boards of The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times have strongly supported his nomination. The American Bar Association review committee, hardly a rubber stamp for conservatives, gave Keisler its highest rating. Unanimously

Yet Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy of Vermont refuses — without explanation — to allow the panel to vote on Keisler's nomination. His nomination has been pending an astonishing 623 days — more than 10 times as long as Leahy once said was a reasonable expectation — in a form of perpetual limbo. Leahy and his fellow Democrats are blocking Keisler with raw political power, just because they can, as a way to thumb their noses at President Bush.

Yet Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy of Vermont refuses — without explanation — to allow the panel to vote on Keisler’s nomination. His nomination has been pending an astonishing 623 days — more than 10 times as long as Leahy once said was a reasonable expectation — in a form of perpetual limbo.

# posted by Michael Thielen @ 8:40 AM