Bill Richardson's campaign has put out a press release condemning the Senate for confirming Michael Mukasey — and condemning four of his opponents for missing the vote.

"The Senate could have rejected this nomination with a filibuster," Richardson says in the release. By showing up and speaking out, Senators Biden, Clinton, Dodd, and Obama might well have stopped his confirmation. Instead, they chose to sit on the sidelines and watch history pass them by."

The full statement is available after the jump.

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Barack Obama's campaign told the Hotline last night that he would be missing the Mukasey vote, as he was busy on a bus tour through Iowa yesterday when the vote was called on short notice.

"Sen. Obama won't be going back to DC tonight to vote for Mukasey," said Obama campaign communications director Robert Gibbs. "He's already announced his position on it. I don't think the vote will be close."

In all, seven Democratic Senators voted to confirm Michael Mukasey:

Evan Bayh (Indiana)
Tom Carper (Delaware)
Dianne Feinstein (California)
Mary Landrieu (Louisiana)
Joe Lieberman (Independent-Connecticut)
Ben Nelson (Nebraska)
Chuck Schumer (New York)

During last night's Senate confirmation of Michael Mukasey — which passed 53-40 — every presidential candidate currently in the Senate missed the vote. Democrats Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Chris Dodd and Joe Biden, plus Republican John McCain, were all absent.

Senator Ken Salazar (D-CO), a relatively moderate Democrat, has announced his opposition to Michael Mukasey, the Denver Post reports.

"Waterboarding is torture," said Salazar, a former state attorney general. "This is not a complex issue. It is not open to interpretation."

With more senators now coming out against Mukasey, here's our vote chart:

Montana Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester — two Democrats from a state that reliably votes Republican for president — have announced their opposition to Michael Mukasey for attorney general.

In a joint press release, the two declare, "We are deeply troubled by Judge Mukasey's refusal to acknowledge what our courts, our military and every single previous administration has recognized: waterboarding is torture and it is illegal."

The full statement is available after the jump.

Now that more Senators are coming out against Mukasey, it looks like his confirmation may not be assured, after all. So we're hauling out our chart of where the individual Senators stand on this:

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Michael Mukasey is now guaranteed a majority of votes in the Senate, with Democrats Chuck Schumer (NY) and Dianne Feinstein (CA), who both serve on the Judiciary Committee, announcing they will vote yes.

Here's our continually-updated vote chart:

The methodology is explained here.

Two key votes on the Senate Judiciary Committee are still undecided on the nomination of Michael Mukasey for Attorney General. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) is on the fence, and a spokesman for Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI) confirmed to Election Central that the votes of both Wisconsin Senators are still up in the air.

CNN has just reported that Senate Patrick Leahy (D-VT), chairman of the Judiciary Committee, will vote against Michael Mukasey.

"No American should need a classified briefing to determine whether waterboarding is torture," said Leahy, according to the Associated Press. According to a Leahy aide, he's scheduled a presser for 3 P.M. to discuss his opposition.

We have updated our vote chart:

An explanation of the chart's methodology is available here.

The liberal Web site Democrats.com has thought up an interesting way to sway Chuck Schumer's vote on the Mukasey nomination. The Washington Post reports that they've begun an e-mail campaign to withhold donations to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which Schumer heads up, if he votes for the nomination.

As promised, here's some video of Joe Lieberman on the Senate floor today saying that it would be "unjust" to oppose Michael Mukasey's confirmation as AG over a peripheral detail such as his refusal to say whether waterboarding constitutes torture:

Joe Lieberman, on the Senate floor just moments ago:

"To reject the nomination of Judge Michael Mukasey because he refuses to say what some members want him to say on this question, and he refuses as a matter of sincerely held legal belief...would be grossly unfair, an unjust act to this judge. May I suggest an alternative course...confirm him!"

Of course, lots of folks would argue that "this question" -- i.e., whether waterboarding is torture -- is kind of an important one. Video in a bit.

Meanwhile, we've updated our chart: