Ed Gillespie: Getting Roberts Confirmed

By David Brody
Capitol Hill Correspondent

CBN.com – WASHINGTON - John Roberts clears his first hurdle in the Senate today. The Senate Judiciary Committee votes on his nomination to be the new Supreme Court Chief Justice.

To get a look at the White House's strategy to get Roberts confirmed, CBN News sat down with Ed Gillespie, the man picked by the White House to help Roberts navigate the rough seas known as the United States Senate.

Roberts will soon find out whether he will be chief justice of the United States. But there has been a lot of work to even get him to that point.

Gillespie has been one of those tireless workers. He is a Capitol Hill veteran. But Gillespie says Roberts made his job very easy.

"There wasn't much preparation in terms of case reviews and things like that,” Gillespie said. “Although there was some of that. I…have an understanding about the process. It was mostly about that, and just in terms of addressing the senators and how to best do that, and how to respond. It was all style in that regard, and understanding the process. But I'll tell you, someone said ‘Well, did you coach him?’ And I just laughed and said, ‘That's like asking somebody if you can coach Michael Jordan on his jump shot. You just can't. He's a natural talent.’"

And his hearing last week was proof of that. Republicans and Democrats were in awe of his intellect, and Roberts made his opening statement and answered senators' questions - all off the top of his head, without notes.

Gillespie noted, “He had a little notepad and pencil next to him on the table, and he never once picked it up. I mean he did it all extemporaneously."

Though he was applauded intellectually, Democrats still say they are concerned that he may not support women's rights and civil rights. Just this week, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid came out against Roberts.

CBN News: Do you feel that the Democrats are going to give him a fair shot, or do you feel that the liberal interest groups here are pretty much running the day here?

Gillespie: Well, there's incredible pressure on them from their extreme liberal interest groups. If you walk out into the hall, there would be People for the American Way, Moveon.org, The National Abortion Rights Action League, the National Organization for Women, and every radical left group in the country out there, putting pressure through the media on the senators. And I'm sure, directly on those Democratic senators as well. But I think, as they listen to Judge Roberts, I am optimistic that they may vote for him based on his qualifications.

One of the top Democrats, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) came out in favor of Roberts. The question is how many Democrats in the full Senate will follow Leahy's lead. Roberts did seem to strike moderate tones in his confirmation hearing, citing his belief in a right to privacy in the Constitution, something social conservatives say is nowhere to be found, at least as it relates to the Roe v. Wade abortion decision. It has at least some pro-life conservatives wondering if Roberts will be a reliable vote.

CBN News: What about this idea that the Senator Brownback's and others - the conservatives -would like to see some judge that is nominated in the future by the President have more of a track record on Roe v. Wade and possibly overturning it?

Gillespie: Well, if you look at Judge Roberts’ comments, it was clear throughout the process of the hearings that he is one who applies the law as it is written in the Constitution and by legislatures, not…an activist judge who'll make laws based on his own personal opinion. I think it was great to hear someone say that it's not my job as a judge to impose my personal viewpoint and make policies…I think the President has made good on his promise in terms of his last two campaigns, to nominate someone who applies the law, doesn't make new laws, and someone in the mold of Justice Thomas and Justice Scalia.

Roberts says he plans to be his own man on the Supreme Court, a point he made by not invoking the names of conservative Justices Antonin Scalia or Clarence Thomas. With any Supreme Court nominee, the future is uncertain, but one thing Gillespie knows is that, throughout this whole process, Roberts has impressed him even more as a person rather than as a judge.

"In the course of the preparation for these hearings,” Gillespie said, “in getting to know him - all of us - those of us at the White House and Justice Department who have been working with Judge Roberts, I have to tell you that our commitment to his confirmation goes beyond a professional one at this point. He is someone who commands a lot of loyalty and affection from the people around him, because he is truly a good man and a caring father and devoted husband - and someone who was very kind to us in this process, more so than he frankly needed to be. So we're rooting for him personally, as well as professionally at this point.

So with Republicans in control of the Senate, and with confirmation basically assured, we now wait to see how many Democrats vote for Roberts. The vote counting started today.

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