[newzjunkey]

But it would be amusing to see the Dems twist themselves into knots over JRB, wouldn't it? I'd love for her to be nominated, proudly as a fellow Californian. Because she's well qualified. Not nominated for gender. Not nominated for skin color.

[dufekin]

Janice Rogers Brown is a Californian. That's an enormous problem in itself; either Barbara Boxer or Diane Feinstein could use a Senatorial procedure known as a "hold." A "hold" allows an individual Senator to block any nomination indefinitely for ostensibly provincial (rather than political) reasons. Even if Bush manages to give them enough bribes to compel them to release their hold, that does not prevent the other from issuing a hold and demanding further bribes. Releasing a hold merely allows the Senate to proceed with arguing over whether to grant the nominee the dignity of a vote as to whether she deserves the dignity of a vote.

Janice Rogers Brown does not have a majority, and the Senate previously rejected her (even the dignity of a vote) for lower office. If Bush nominates Brown, that nomination is DEFEATED on ARRIVAL. There is no possible way that she could pass.

Bush must nominate a FEMALE widely perceived as highly qualified, not a crony, and more LIBERAL than Sandra Day O'Conner. We need a sheep IN WOLF'S CLOTHING. A conservative who has spent every day of her life posing as a liberal on the bench. Only such a person could endear both a majority of Senators and of posterity to her and by extension to Bush. This political climate makes Bush's task all but impossible, even without the depth of corruption in the Republican establishment and the surging Democratic majorities.