« Sen. Salazar Asks Bush to Withdraw Judge Nominees | Main | PA: Hafer Running »
March 03, 2005
Boxer To Keep Claws Out During Second Bush Term
This is a real headline form yesterday's Washington Times, about Barbara Boxer's recent emergence as a favorite Senator for Democrats after her aggressive questioning in Condoleezza Rice during her Secretary of State confirmation hearings. While the article is overall critical, some highlights:
To her detractors, Barbara Boxer, the diminutive Democratic senator from California, is an unladylike, publicity-seeking pit bull.Clearly, they like her a lot.
...
A senator who challenged election results in Ohio that clinched victory for President Bush and grilled Condoleezza Rice during her confirmation hearings, Mrs. Boxer intends to continue her role as the hellcat from the Left Coast.
The senator says the recent publicity stemming from her full-boil partisan positions has been more than welcome and raised her national profile -- with hopes of assuming Democratic stalwart Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's mantle as party pooh-bah.Why we love her, and they hate her:
"My own reaction was that I was really surprised by how much notice [the confirmation hearings] got," she says in a telephone interview. "I've been doing this forever. It got so much attention."
...
The senator defends her tough comments and personal criticisms of Miss Rice, saying, "I showed the utmost respect for her by holding her accountable. I think it was a very respectful thing to do."
Fox News host Bill O'Reilly called her "a nut" on the air, and House Minority Leader Tom DeLay, Texas Republican, referred to her as the leader of the "X Files-wing" of the Democratic Party.After Boxer received the roses on Valentine's Day, she personally wrote a Diary Entry on Daily Kos thanking the netroots for their support. Its hard to find a better advocate in the Senate than a woman who will stand up for what we believe, challenge the administration, and work to personally connect with the netroots.
Nonetheless, a band of supporters is touting her for president, selling "Barbara Boxer '08" underwear on the Internet. They delivered 4,500 roses to her Capitol Hill office on Valentine's Day.
For a woman who has never been considered a "Washington player" and hasn't sponsored legislation that has made her a household name, Mrs. Boxer is the star of her own rough-and-tumble reality show.
Expect more fireworks from Mrs. Boxer in the coming months, as political issues heat up -- especially the prospect of the Bush administration's having the chance to nominate not one, but two Supreme Court justices.
Privately, top Democrats were surprised when immediately after her grilling of Miss Rice, the senator seized the moment to begin a Democratic fund-raising drive. In a letter asking for donations to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Mrs. Boxer wrote, "The Republicans were expecting the Senate to confirm Miss Rice with little debate and questioning from the Foreign Relations Committee. They didn't count on me to ask the tough questions."
The Republican Party immediately criticized her for it, calling it "self-aggrandizing fund-raising letters proudly bragging about their obstructionism."
--------
Posted by Max at March 3, 2005 09:28 AM