How Many Senators Make "A Handful?"

Here's everyone's favorite weasel, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, when asked yesterday about the importance of an Ambassador receiving Senate confirmation:

Q So Senate confirmation really makes no difference in how he [Bolton] carries out his job?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think it's clear to everybody that he had the majority support of the United States Senate. But, unfortunately, a handful of Senate Democrats were intent on using partisan tactics to delay the nomination from receiving an up or down vote on the floor of the Senate.

A handful?

Thirty-six United States Senators sent a letter to President Bush on July 29 urging him not to make a recess appointment of Bolton after the State Department said he failed to tell lawmakers he was interviewed about faulty intelligence reports on Iraq.

If 51 Senate votes are a majority -- and unless you're really trying to mislead -- can 36 Senators really be called a “handful?”