1.   A strong objection by a single senator can cause an ambassadorial nomination to quietly die without ever being sent to the full Senate for a vote.

2.   But he has also held meritorious ambassadorial nominations hostage for petty and even vindictive reasons.

3.   But the Republican Senate has rejected ambassadorial nominations on whimsical grounds or over arcane policy disagreements.

4.   Conservatives are mounting a vigorous campaign to block the ambassadorial nomination of San Francisco philanthropist and gay rights activist James C. Hormel.

5.   He signaled that his ambassadorial nomination was, more than even the rewards given to big fund-raisers and party grandees, a political appointment.

6.   Helms, whose committee clears ambassadorial nominations before the full Senate votes on confirmation, sharply criticized the choice in a television interview Tuesday.

7.   He urges Senate leaders to bring the ambassadorial nomination of gay rights advocate James Hormel to the floor for a vote.

8.   State Department officials acknowledge that the Republican takeover of Congress might make it harder to get ambassadorial nominations confirmed.

9.   That was true with two other ambassadorial nominations Helms notably torpedoed for reasons of personal and political pique.

10.   The ambassadorial nomination of San Francisco philanthropist and gay rights activist James C. Hormel, stymied by Republican critics last year, has little chance to succeed this year.