Key Republican joins Dems opposing Bolton nomination

News Type: Event — Seeded on Fri Nov 10, 2006 9:46 PM EST

Article Source: CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- This is probably not what President Bush had in mind when he stressed bipartisanship after the Democratic Party's midterm elections sweep.

A key Senate Republican has joined Democrats in opposing one of Bush's initiatives for the lame-duck Congress: John Bolton's nomination as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

With leaders from both parties promising a new bipartisan Washington, Bush began efforts to get two of his most controversial decisions approved before the Democrats take over. (Watch reason to hope for national unity -- 2:16 Video)

Along with Bolton's nomination, Bush said he would like to move forward on legislation to retroactively authorize the National Security Agency's domestic surveillance program.

Bush said he would like to see action on both issues before year's end. The Democratic-controlled Congress begins its term in January.

But Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee, who was defeated in this week's election, said he would block Bolton's nomination.

Chafee, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters that he did not believe Bolton's nomination would move forward without his support.

"The American people have spoken out against the president's agenda on a number of fronts, and presumably one of those is on foreign policy," the Rhode Island moderate told The Associated Press.

"And at this late stage in my term, I'm not going to endorse something the American people have spoke out against."

I bet he won't be the last Republican to turn against Bolton, or Bush for that matter. Amongst the many, many, many things Bush and his crew do not recognize is that they've made many enemies inside their own party, and being the main reason said party no longer controls anything has not exactly made him more friends.

It only gets worse from here, Junior.