Judicial Appointments Likely to be Convention Issue

By David Brody
Congressional Correspondent

August 31, 2004

CBN.com – NEW YORK -- Much of the talk coming from convention speakers this week will center on the war on terrorism. But for grassroots conservatives, an issue just as big is the appointment of judges. It may not get the same attention, but it very well may shape the future of our country.

For much of President's Bush's first term, Democrats have been giving him a hard time on his selection of judges to the federal bench. They have blocked a record 10 judges and counting, complaining that the candidates are too conservative and will promote a dangerous agenda.

The result has been a virtual stalemate and a lot of bad blood between conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats. In the convention hall this week, the question really is, how much will the speakers talk about the judges issue? Don't count on moderate Republicans to do it. But to grassroots conservatives, it is a huge issue, and one of the leading Republican senators in the country, Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), told CBN News that it will get some attention.

Sen. Santorum was asked whether we were going to hear about judges this week at the convention, to which Santorum replied, "I think you'll hear about judges, and the importance of making sure this President has the opportunity to have what every President in the history of the United States has had. That's the opportunity to confirm judges with a simple majority of the United States Senate."

But there is an even bigger issue at play here. Presidents serve either four or eight years, but judges serve a lifetime. And so both sides agree that whoever is elected in November will have the power to shape the court for years.

President Bush's chief counsel Alberto Gonzales said, "They have an impact on the decisions that affect your life, the life of our parents, grandparents, the lives of our children; so it's a very, very important issue in terms of the philosophy that a president applies in choosing who should serve on the federal bench."

And all of this could clearly affect the highest court in the land, the Supreme Court. There have been rumors of retirements for awhile, so this presidential election will probably have a huge impact on what the Supreme Court would look like

Sen. Santorum commented, "It very well could. There's a chance that as many as four Supreme Court Justices may retire between now and the next Presidential election, and if that's the case, no matter which party controls the presidency, it will dramatically change the face of the court."

And so Republicans in this hall are concerned that a President Kerry will just further the agenda of what they see as an already liberal judiciary, and they are counting on four more years of a Bush White House to help fight the Democrats' logjam.

Translate Page