The confirmation hearings in Washington this week are about more than the nominees.There are two big confirmation hearings in Washington this week. Elena Kagan for the Supreme Court and General David Petraeus to run the war in Afghanistan. But they are a smaller part of a bigger political play....
Senate committees quickly confirmed General David Petraeus to run the afghan war and are still working on supreme court nominee Elena Kagan.
JU political expert Steven Baker expects that she will also get confirmed.
"Unless something really unusual happens, most of the prognosticators think that it is going to go very smoothly," Baker said.
He does not think that Republicans have any real chance of derailing her confirmation. However, they are using both these hearings to build a larger narrative against the president and democrats.
"I don't know if they really expect to win on that issue but at least it will promote the notion that the Democrats should be defeated in the fall," Baker explained.
As far as the Afghanistan war is concerned, it remains a back burner issue. Petraeus was a widely popular choice and the President has expressed support for continuing the war.
It will only become a major issue of Democrats decide to start opposing it vocally, something that is unlikely this close to an election.