Senate confirms Gates with Bunning and Santorum voting NAYs!

The Washington post is reporting that the U. S. Senate QUICKLY confirmed Robert Gates as I had predicted -- well, almost as I had predicted. The final vote tally was 95 to 2 and my prediction on yesterday's posting here was that it would be 98 to 2, so where were the other 3 Senators anyway? Two Senators, Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, who lost re-election, and Kentucky Senator, Jim Bunning, cast the 2 NAY votes. They both cited Gates' critisism of the Iraqi war and his suggestion that Iran should be engaged as a part of the Middle East solution as reasons for their votes. These nay votes came in spite of Senator Mitch McConnell's flattering remarks about Robert Gates: "The position of secretary of defense is more important than ever, and I believe the President has made an outstanding choice".
Go figure. Here's hoping Robert Gates gets to work IMMEDIATELY to begin the implementation of the Iraqi Study Group's (ISG) recommendations.