Washington – Democrats distanced themselves Monday from Wisconsin Sen. Russell Fein gold’s effort to censure President Bush over domestic spying, preventing a floor vote that could alienate swing voters.
A day of tough, election-year talk between Feingold and Vice President Dick Cheney ended with Senate leaders sending the matter to the Judiciary Committee.
Republicans dared Democrats to vote for the proposal.
“Some Democrats in Congress have decided the president is the enemy,” Vice President Dick Cheney told a Republican audience in Feingold’s home state.
Feingold, a potential presidential candidate, said on the Senate floor, “The president has violated the law and Congress must respond.”
“A formal censure by Congress is an appropriate and responsible first step to assure the public that when the president thinks he can violate the law without consequences, Congress has the will to hold him accountable,” Feingold said.
Even as he spoke, Democratic leaders held off the immediate vote that Majority Leader Bill Frist requested. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said he didn’t know if there ever would be one. Durbin said Feingold had sought to use the censure resolution “as a catalyst” for thorough hearings and investigations.
The referral averted a debate and a vote that Democrats privately worried would alienate voters who could decide close elections.
