Associate Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor has announced her retirement, effective upon the confirmation of her successor.
This is where Chairman Bush’s true colors will be seen. Justice O’Connor has long been the swing vote on the Court, and her successor will define the direction of the court in future years. If Bush is a man of his word, he will make sure that her successor is a strict constructionist. He must nominate someone who interprets the Constitution literally, does not make up law, and does not look to foreign law to make decisions. On top of that, the Republican Senate cannot allow a minority to obstruct the confirmation process.
The heat is on!
See what you think of this senario…
My guess is that he’ll nominate a conservative, anti-abortion hardliner just to have them go through the approval (read lynching) process only to subsequently have the nominee back out from the pressure of the examination (read Spanish Inquisition) or have the administration withdraw the candidate to make it appear to spare the candidate from further lambasting. Then, the administration will launch a counter attack show how vitriolic the Democrats were on the first go around and offer a more moderate candidate for the court, who will be someone the president really wanted in the first place. In the end, this method would curry the favor of social conservatives through the president having attempted to do their bidding while softening up the Democrats by releasing some of their pent up hostility upon a candidate the president had no intention of supporting in the first place. Tactically, it makes sense to me and seems to fit what he’s done before with other issues.
But then the moderate will be a wimp and vote with the liberals, as has happened before. No go in my book. Look, the Republicans have the White House, they have the Senate. If they cannot get a judge who will only interpret the Constitution, they are no better than the Dems. Bush should pick a constructionist and be done with it. I’m not holding my breath. Bush could nominate Bill Clinton and the Dems would STILL oppose him.