Boston Globe - "Obama may face fight on treaties" - Democrats Against Nuclear Nonproliferation?

[TomCADem]

I am actually thinking that John Kerry in the Senate, rather than as a member of the Obama administration, is a win-win for both President Obama and John Kerry.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2009/10/25/obama_may_face_fight_on_treaties/

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WASHINGTON - President Obama’s vision of global cooperation - symbolized by his surprise Nobel Peace Prize - is in for a crucial test in the months ahead when he begins sending a series of treaties to the US Senate, where skepticism among Republicans and some Democrats will make approval exceedingly difficult, according to government officials and specialists.

Marking a major reversal from the Bush administration, which considered most treaties to be too restrictive of US sovereignty, the Obama administration says it will seek ratification of three major pacts aimed at reducing nuclear weapons. It also will seek approval of a set of regulations to manage use of the oceans and, by the end of the president’s first term, a new treaty to combat global climate change.

Starting in early 2010 with a new deal with Russia to reduce nuclear arms, Obama’s agenda will have to overcome opposition on Capitol Hill, where it will be a daunting task to secure the two-thirds Senate majority re quired for treaty ratification.

“I think he is going to have a real fight on his hands,’’ said Steven Groves, a specialist in international law at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think tank.

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