McCain's Pitch to Social Conservatives
May 7, 2008
Judges will be John McCain’s bread and butter. He may have problems with social conservatives on issues like the federal marriage amendment or embryonic stem cell research but if he keeps the focus on judges, it will end up helping him immensely.
Repeat after me: Roberts and Alito…Roberts and Alito… Roberts and Alito…you are getting sleepy….Roberts and Alito.
Read more from New York Newsday below:
John McCain made a play to the GOP's right wing Tuesday, vowing to appoint conservative judges like Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel Alito and blasting Democratic rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton for voting against them.
In a speech his campaign billed as a major address on the judiciary, McCain delivered a harsh critique of "judicial activists" who over step their Constitutional bounds. He also lambasted Democrats for blocking GOP nominees to the bench by turning the confirmation process into a "gauntlet of abuse."
McCain said the difference between the parties on the courts is a defining issue for the November election. Experts expect as many as two to four vacancies on the Supreme Court, and who fills them could shift the court to the right or left for a generation.
McCain set out his own standards for his judicial picks. "I will look for accomplished men and women with a proven record of excellence in the law, and a proven commitment to judicial restraint," he said.
As models, McCain named Roberts and Alito, both solid conservative votes on rulings, and the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist, an Arizona native and for years the most conservative member of the court.
That's in contrast to the type of judges both Obama and Clinton have said they would nominate -- jurists who would uphold civil rights, privacy and other social issues opposed by conservatives. McCain attacked both Democrats, but singled out Obama for his sharpest critique, suggesting Obama sounded like a "judicial activist" himself in defending his no vote on Roberts.
McCain’s patriotism and talk on judges are the big selling points to social conservatives, even though the “Gang of 14” agreement doesn’t sit well with pro-family groups. You can make the argument that it didn’t turn out so bad.
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