The Obama administration suffered a serious setback Wednesday as the President’s controversial nominee to head the Civil Rights division of the Department of Justice, Debo Adegbile, was blocked in the Senate 52-47.
Eight Democrats joined all Republicans in blocking Adegbile, including Majority Leader Harry Reid, who changed his vote to "no" so that he could reconsider the nomination at a later time.
"This vote was kind of an unforced error for Senator Reid," NBC News’ Kasie Hunt said, speculating that Harry Reid miscalculated how many Democrats would end up backing the President’s nominee.
Hunt noted that many vulnerable Democrats voted in favor of Adegbile, a move that will likely endanger their seats even further. Those senators included Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Kay Hagan (D-NC), and Mark Begich (D-AK).
MSNBC host Chris Matthews responded, "I’m going to have to figure out why they made this decision to risk all, to expose so many perilous Democratic senators who voted for this nomination at the request of [Attorney General] Eric Holder and the President."
Matthews wondered how those embattled Democrats would defend their vote for a nominee who vigorously defended cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal.