‘It’s not about the man.” That’s what Senate Democrats said about GOP opposition to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director Richard Cordray before his successful confirmation vote on Tuesday, after enough Republicans caved to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s threat of the “nuclear option” of ending the 60-vote cloture rule for debate on nominees. 

“There are no objections to him on substance,” White House spokesman Jay Carney declared earlier this year. And the most of the establishment Washington press corps – save Bloomberg News Service – dutifully relayed Carney s sentiments. This week, the Associated Press transcribed President Obama’s comments that “Republicans in the Senate refused to give Rich a simple yes or no vote, not because they didn't think he was the right person for the job, but because they didn't like the law that set up the consumer watchdog in the first place,” without citing any voices to dispute this.