Embattled Bernanke edges closer to a second term

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Embattled Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke edged closer to winning support for a second term after the Senate''s Republican leader predicted confirmation and Democrats aimed to have a vote this week.

Bernanke''s prospects appeared shaky last week when two Senate Democrats announced their opposition. Uncertainty on Bernanke''s confirmation rattled investors, contributing to the worst three-day slide for U.S. stocks in 10 months.

But a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Sunday that the senator hoped to have a vote to confirm Bernanke this week. Bernanke''s term expires at the end of the month.

Top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell said he expected Bernanke to be approved. "He''s going to have bipartisan support in the Senate and I would anticipate he''d be confirmed," McConnell told NBC''s "Meet the Press." But McConnell would not say how he would vote.

Concerned about the surge of opposition to Bernanke''s renomination, President Barack Obama contacted the Democratic Senate leadership Saturday to make sure there were enough votes.

"The president is very confident that the chairman will be confirmed," White House senior adviser David Axelrod said on CNN''s "State of the Union" program Sunday. "The readings he''s getting from his conversations are that Chairman Bernanke will be confirmed."

At least 29 senators have said they will back Bernanke or are leaning toward supporting him and at least 17 senators have either already voted against him in committee, come out against or said they are leaning against the central banker, according to a check by Reuters.

"I think he will survive. Markets would react very negatively if he is not confirmed," said Peter Morici, professor of economics at University of Maryland.

Bernanke''s term ends January 31.

BERNANKE''S CRITICS

Bernanke''s critics say the Fed failed to prevent the recent financial crisis, the worst since the Great Depression, and fought the meltdown in a way that favored the financial industry at the expense of ordinary citizens.

With congressional elections in November, many lawmakers are unwilling to take any stand that appears to benefit Wall Street, particularly after Tuesday''s Republican upset in Massachusetts for the U.S. Senate seat that had been a Democratic stronghold for decades.