Reply #4: He'd face a much tougher confirmation fight [View All]

[Wetzelbill]

If he said that out loud. I think Republicans know some of what is coming, or could at least come, but if he states that he's going to crack the whip on these matters, these Republicans on the committee and in the senate as a whole won't have any political cover to hide under. In that case they'd have to fight him because their base would be pissed off. As it stands if Holder gets in and starts investigations they can sit back and say: "Well he didn't say that during the hearings, otherwise I wouldn't have voted for somebody so partisan" etc etc. If Holder is going to do any of that it serves no purpose to start a political fight before he's even got the job, especially if the most important thing for these guys is covering their asses. They have no real love for Bush/Cheney at this point, but the GOP base, Limbaugh/Hannity, all of that crowd will flip out and make their lives miserable if they voted for Holder while he was saying he'd go after any GOP abuses.