Paul Kiel November 1, 2007, 10:46 AM

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was an early and vocal advocate for Michael Mukasey, which means that he’s currently in the uncomfortable and, for him, novel position of being the least vocal of Senate Democrats.

Things have gotten so bad that Schumer, known as a legendary publicity hound on the Hill, is ducking cameras:

On Wednesday, Mr. Schumer was uncharacteristically reluctant to discuss his views. He avoided television crews waiting outside an unrelated news conference and refused to answer questions about the judge’s letter on waterboarding.

“I’m not going to comment on Judge Mukasey here,” he said. “I’m reading the letter, I’m going over it.”

And Roll Call reports (sub. req.) that Schumer’s early support for Mukasey has damaged “somewhat” his status in the caucus:

One senior Senate Democratic aide said Schumer’s credibility with the Democratic Caucus had been damaged somewhat by the issue, because many saw his status as a member of Judiciary and the No. 3 Senate Democratic leader as giving them clearance to praise the nomination when it was first announced.

“That made a lot of Democrats think he must know what he’s talking about,” said the aide. “People followed his lead and now they’re having to dial it back.”

Schumer did not directly respond to a question about whether his early public support for Mukasey has put Senate Democrats as a whole in an awkward position, but said, “Everyone is looking at it and so am I.”

Michael Mukasey