Scores of terrible judges at all levels of judicial appointments were marketed as "originalists" and "strict constructists", including the judges who gave us Roe v. Wade, gay marriage, and upheld Obamacare.
Richard Nixon made a campaign pledge that he would work to undo the judicial activism of the Earl Warren court and swore up and down that he would ONLY appoint "strict constructionists" to the bench. What's more, I believe he sincerely tried to do so. Some of his more reliable nominees were blocked by a Dem controlled Senate, and there was good evidence at the time that Warren Burger and Harry Blackmun wouldn't legislate from the bench, based on their past rulings. Blackmun just "grew" in office thanks to being on SCOTUS for decades and not being a firm conservative. Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.
If you claim you opposed Roberts, I would seriously doubt that assertion, since I was on FR at the time and the ONLY conservative I remember who strongly opposed the nomination was Ann Coulter (who turned out to be right) and everyone else was very pleased with the pick and ridiculed Coulter for casting doubts on the nomination. And yes, Roberts was certainly marketed as an "originalist", and we all believed it. We were wrong. Roberts had a track record, he had authored 49 opinions from the bench on the D.C. circuit, and there was zero evidence he would vote to uphold Obamacare. The whole country was shocked when he did.
Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
Bottom line: President Trump promised to appoint ONLY pro-life judges. He has not done so.
There is no evidence that Gorsuch is against abortion or will vote to overturn Roe v. Wade (and Gorsuch even says he won't). If you want to believe he will magically vote the way you want on issues like abortion and gay marriage because he says he is an "originalist", even though that strategy has never worked before, that's your business.
I don’t think Nixon tried. Nixon was a progressive.
As I said, I was proud to vhe opposed O’Connor, Souter, and Roberts. That will show up in posts at the time.
I knew Roberts was no originalist. He had nothing to show that he was. He was another stealth nominee. Those don’t work out. (Bush should have appointed Luttig.)
I remember the Burger and Blackmun fights, and I remember my family expressing doubt about Blackmun. He was every bit the disaster that my family thought he’d be.
I remember the Burger and Blackmun fights, and I remember my family expressing doubt about Blackmun. He was every bit the disaster that my family thought he’d be.