Condi wrap-up

Let me start by saying that as a citizen of Massachusetts I am so fortunate as to be extraordinarily well represented in the Senate. There is rarely much to complain about, and in fact when I do fire off an email to either Ted Kennedy or John Kerry it is usually to provide them with a little extra backup when they are taking a minority opinion. That said, I was completely delighted by Kerry's performance in the Rice hearings yesterday and today. He did what he does well: he was the calm, rational and statesmanlike prosecutor. He was a polite bulldog. And he voted not to confirm.

Web-wide Kerry bashing having lately become the online sport du jour, I have been spending very little time looking at blogs. So please excuse me if this Fred Kaplan article, Rice and Dice from yesterday's Slate has gotten a ton of play.

Twenty minutes into Condoleezza Rice's confirmation hearings this morning, John Kerry entered the chamber and took his seat as the fourth-ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, no doubt poignantly aware that, had 60,000 citizens switched their votes in Ohio, he wouldn't have to wait in line to speak anywhere, much less put up with back-bench Republicans smirking and joking about how happy they are to see his return to the committee.

Not since 1972 has the loser of a presidential election held on to a post of power afterward, so there was some anticipation over how Kerry would handle these hearings—his first official, public confrontation with such a tangible token of his defeat. Would he be aggressive in his questioning, or lean over backward to be conciliatory and polite? If his performance is a signal of how he views this new phase of his career, he'll probably be abandoning the back-seat deference that he's often displayed the past two decades as the junior senator from Massachusetts.

Dana Stevens, also at Slate, was as fascinated by the c-span coverage as I was.

There's Boxer the bulldog, Kerry the sad-eyed elder statesman, and Biden, the asker of all the tough questions that get none of the real answers, or no answers at all. But as a watcher, I'm spellbound by the interstitial stuff, the pre-interrogation niceties that are not always so nice, like the following exchange between John Kerry and Condi Rice as the committee debated how long to go on before adjourning last night:

Kerry: I wonder, Mr. Chairman, I know I heard Dr. Rice say she's willing to stay and stay and stay, but I wonder if there's sort of a limit of decency in how long we wanna …

Rice: I'm perfectly happy to stay, Senator. I look forward to further exchange.

Kerry: You want that job, don't you? …

Rice: (Laughs) I look forward to further exchange.

Kerry: Fair enough.

Somehow, that brief, ever-so-slightly terse interaction crystallized everything that was at stake in these largely symbolic hearings. There was the irony of John Kerry, the ultimate unsuccessful job-seeker, needling Rice about "wanting a job"; the subtle stonewalling of Rice's rigidly repeated reply, and the invocation of a "limit of decency" that went ignored, as it has in a couple of elections and wars I could name.

This was just great theater. In spite of the courtly senatorial ambiance, the personalities, the powerful egos and strong intellects on display and in full combat mode were riveting. Condi will undoubtedly end up being confirmed, but no one who watched the hearings came away thinking she got away with much. The democrats clearly planned their attack well - assigned roles and played them out to perfection. Barbara Boxer is one tough lady. In today's quiet moments you could find me meditating on the possibility of a Kerry/Boxer ticket in '08...