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Gary Langer is director of polling at ABC News, where he's covered the beat of public opinion for nearly 20 years - conducting and analyzing ABC News polls, evaluating data from other sources and setting the news division's standards for poll reporting. Langer has won two Emmy awards for ABC's reporting of public opinion polls in Iraq, and The Numbers blog was honored this year as winner of the 2008 Iowa Gallup Award for Excellent Journalism Using Polls.
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Hold on Groves: Mystery Hour at the Senate
June 04, 2009 7:01 PM
Three weeks after Robert M. Groves sailed through his confirmation hearing to lead the U.S. Census Bureau, a Republican U.S. senator has placed the nomination on hold.
As for who and why, it’s Mystery Hour at the U.S. Senate.
A Democratic staffer this afternoon suggested to our senior congressional correspondent Jonathan Karl that signs seemed to point to Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah. Nope: “It’s not us,” says Bennett’s spokesman, Tara Hendershott. “We don’t have a hold.”
Someone clearly does. The majority leader, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., asked this evening for unanimous consent to move the Groves nomination to a vote – and the minority leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., objected.
“We’re still in the clearance process,” McConnell spokesman Don Stewart told Karl. “He doesn’t yet have unanimous consent.”
Holds are an informal practice through which a senator can secretly ask his or her leader to prevent any measure from reaching the floor for a vote.
Suspicion may have centered on Bennett given his concerns about the 2000 Census missing 11,000 Mormons out on missions around the world, thus in his view costing Utah a congressional seat; and the use of community activists with the group ACORN in Census outreach. Nonetheless, after meeting with Groves, Bennett issued a statement calling him “well qualified” for the position.
Besides, “When we issue a hold, we go public with it,” says Hendershott.
While presumably non-fatal (consent is not “yet” in hand, Stewart said), the hold’s a different story from the warm and fuzzies that followed Groves’ hearing before the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on May 15, when he ruled out the use of statistical sampling in the 2010 count, clearing away a strong Republican concern. The AP declared Groves’ nomination “all but assured” and The Wall Street Journal said his confirmation was “likely next week.”
The next week Groves indeed was approved by voice vote without objection by the committee. But silence has ensued since – and the hold looks to be the reason.
A prominent survey researcher, Groves, 60, is director of the Survey Research Center at the University of Michigan and served as associate director of the Census Bureau from 1990 to 1992.
June 4, 2009 | Permalink | User Comments (9)
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I hope it is not one of our Senators from the great State of Oklahoma.
Posted by: Mrs. C. H. Osborne | Jun 4, 2009 8:22:25 PM
Too many crooks so little time for Acorn and the redistricting plans of the radical left who work to insure they retain control of the people and our money.
Posted by: Julie | Jun 4, 2009 8:56:30 PM
I wish the Republicans would just go home All ther doing is wasteing taxes payers money fighting nominations put in from of them by the Obama adminastration. Everytime the senators from Oklahoma open there mouths on FOX TV bad mouthing the president there feet come out there rear and then beg fro forgiveness. What really needs to take place is a recall of all thoses IDOTs. Let them come home and sell Dodges.
Posted by: peter m gatliff | Jun 4, 2009 11:18:32 PM
Why did Groves cave in on the sampling issue? Thanks!
Posted by: Wendy Landers | Jun 5, 2009 12:15:51 AM
My party continues to degrade itself by
acting like the kid with the ball, who
doesn't want to play by the rules. They say that they are trying to please their
"core voters." Which are apparently not
people with my background, concerns, ethics, etc. I strongly suggest that those of us who disagree with their Nazi-like obstructionism, start and/or continue putting our support behind Independents and Democrats and get these people out of office before they completely destroy the country. I warned
Gingrich, when he became 'Speaker', to
change directions or face the probability that we out of favor another
40 to 50 years. And look where we are!
Posted by: gringovejo | Jun 5, 2009 11:12:50 AM
Bye,Bye and Bye for Republican senator!! We hope that Democrat will big turn to change as like Barack Obama's Democrat for need a improvable increased our job!!
Posted by: Ronald (Snoopy) | Jun 5, 2009 1:18:36 PM
Hey Snoopy,ACORN is looking for you to help with the Census.
Posted by: Johnny L | Jun 22, 2009 2:32:41 PM
The GOP continues to make fools outta themselves.
Posted by: Trent | Jun 27, 2009 7:48:47 AM
SIMPLE, THE GOP DOES NOT WANT PEOPLE OF COLOR COUNTED. HELLO. THE GOP IS PRETENDING THERE ARE NO MINORITIES WHEN IT COMES TO THE CENSUS.
THEY SCREAM ABOUT THE LATINOS, BUT DO NOT EVER REALLY WANT THE LEGAL ONES COUNTED.
THAT'S HOW THEY KEEP IN POWER IN THE SOUTH
GERRYMANDER AND FILIBUSTER
LMAO.
RACIST CRAP, LIKE THE OLD SOUTH AFRICA.
THAT'S THE REAL DEAL HERE.
Posted by: CHUCK | Jul 13, 2009 3:41:09 AM
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