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Monday, March 13, 2000

Opinions in brief

Clinton needs GOP on China
   President Clinton and Republicans in Congress won't agree on many things during this election year session, but on the issue of China's admission to the World Trade Organization, they must join hands. Clinton won't find many supporters in the Democratic ranks.
   The Clinton administration is seeking to grant permanent favored nation trade status to China rather than skirmish each year in an annual review process.
   Admitting China to the World Trade Organization would be a step in recognizing that the largest country in the world can't be left out of the body that sets trade rules. China would be on the world stage in terms of having to comply with trade rules and agreements.
   Opponents make the case that China carries on a systematic oppression of religious minorities, political opponents and can't be trusted. But international trade has a way of forcing open dialogue, communication and the very kind of free environment that makes communism hard to sustain. If China is to be made to act like a member of the community of nations, it can't be left out of the world's largest trading body.

  McCain's votes
   The attraction of John McCain's candidacy will be difficult to ignore in the vice presidential considerations, even if the Arizona senator says he won't even consider being second banana on the Republican ticket to Gov. George W. Bush. A new study underscores his ability to draw voters to the polls in his failed bid for the presidential nomination.
   Record turnouts at the GOP polling booths were recorded in 12 of the 18 states in this year primaries, says the Committee for the Study of the American Electorate, a nonpartisan group said. The study said it was the biggest turnout in Republican primary history since Barry Goldwater's campaign in 1964.
   Curtis Gans, the committee's director, attributed the big turnouts directly to McCain's ability to draw new voters, independents and moderate Republicans to the Republican polls.
   McCain says he doesn't want the vice presidential slot, and Bush would have to swallow hard even to offer it after the hard words that have passed between the two. But the motherlode of all those votes will be difficult to dismiss.

  Freeze on nominations
   For Richard A. Paez and Marsha A. Berzon, the wait finally paid off. The two were confirmed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals after their nominations were held up for what can only be called unacceptable lengths of time and unacceptable reasons.
   Paez's nomination had been held up since January, 1966, the longest wait in history. Berzon's nomination had been on hold for two years.
   The two had received glowing endorsements from a range of legal and law enforcement groups and were supported by Republican moderates. Some conservatives vehemently opposed the nominees, arguing they were too liberal. But rather than bring them up for a vote, the nominations had been held in limbo, part of a big logjam of nominations created by hard-nose Republicans who say they are fighting "activist" judges.
   The drag-out and delay tactics by intransigent Republicans on judicial nominations has played havoc with overworked federal courts. Certainly Republicans are entitled to oppose nominees they find uncongenial, but that opposition ought to be expressed in votes, not by freezing the confirmation process.

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