juLy 12, 2005
Everyone Playing
Nice for Now in Supreme Court Justice Search
It was all smiles at the White House today. I was there
to cover the remarks by four key senators as it relates
to the Supreme Court nomination fight. It seems to me
that at least for now everyone is playing nice. But clearly,
this meeting had to be somewhat disappointing to the Democrats.
Yes, they got their meeting with Bush BUT Senator
Reid and other Democrats really wanted a frank discussion
over certain candidates that the President was considered.
Instead what they really got was not much of anything.
The President was tight lipped, revealing nothing when
it came to who’s on his list. I’m sure that
will come back to haunt Bush later if he goes with a nominee
Democrats consider out of the mainstream.
Some other interesting observations. Senator
Arlen Specter was his usual colorful self during the
press conference after the meeting. He told reporters
that special interest groups have basically overstated
their importance and that they better back down and get
out of the way. And that the liberal groups weren’t
really responsible for the defeat of Supreme Court nominee
Robert
Bork. That it was Bork’s judicial philosophy.
Well, liberal groups won’t be buying that one and
neither will conservative groups as well. Specters also
said that he suggested during the meeting with Bush that
the President think a little outside the box and not necessarily
pick someone from the circuit courts. That is what President’s
typically do. Maybe a Senator? Like Senator
John Cornyn? He’s been rumored to be on the
so called “list”. It wouldn’t surprise
me if Bush went this route. Cornyn is very confirmable;
he has the qualifications, he’s not confrontational
and he’s from Texas!!!
This whole Supreme Court showdown is looking like it
is going to start in August. The Senate is supposed to
be in recess then but I’m being told that it’s
going to take about 6-8 weeks to get a nominee through.
Coming back in early September would be tough if the Senate
expects to get the nominee on the bench by October 1st
when the Supreme Court session starts. I bet August becomes
a busy month on the Hill. And as for the confirmation
process, I can’t see anyway that this doesn’t
turn into an ideological bloodbath. The guess here is
that Bush swings for the fences and nominates either Emilio
Garza or Edith
Jones. Both would shift the court to the right based
on their judicial writings. They both have expressed concern
about Roe V. Wade, the supreme court decision to legalize
abortion. Stay tuned and check back often!
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