A Grateful Student

Stumbling Again

Seemed for a while that the nomination of former Bush I White House counsel C. Boyden Gray to be ambassador to the European Union had overcome some stumbling blocks in the form of holds and would get through the Senate.

But there are, we're told, multiple holds on the nomination at this point, apparently from senators who took offense at an ad by the Committee for Justice, which Gray headed, which was pushing for the confirmation of Republican judges.

The ad accused "some in the U.S. Senate of playing politics with religion" in opposing the nomination of Alabama Republican Attorney General Bill Pryor , a Catholic. It showed a sign on the doors of a courthouse saying: "Catholics need not apply."

Apparently some senators, such as Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.), saw this as an exceptionally cheap shot -- even in this modern political era -- and are still unhappy about the two-year-old ad.

The senators' message, a Senate wag said, is that "Boyden Gray need not apply."

Not Off the Hook

The Democrats jumped all over Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) last week, demanding that his investigation of lobbyist Jack Abramoff not let his Republican colleagues "off the hook."

"McCain should investigate [House Speaker] Denny Hastert and [Majority Leader] Roy Blunt ," Democratic National Committee press secretary Josh Earnest said. He added that there was reason to investigate a slew of other Republicans, citing an Associated Press article showing possible links between lawmakers, contributions and Indian casino interests.

The list of the to-be-investigated did not include any Democrats, such as Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.), who, the AP reported, also received contributions from Abramoff-connected tribes.