O'Connor had told people she was going to retire in 2005 a year ago. Kristol used common knowledge to make himself look smart.
There were stories all over the place in the spring of 2004 that O'Conner was going to retire after the 2004 term. Then there were stories that President Bush asked her to stay until after the 2004 election so he would have more Republican votes in the Senate. She agreed and kept her word. There were posters here on FR trashing Bush for asking O'Conner to stay on an extra year. I remember taking flak for defending President Bush not wanting to try to get a justice confirmed in an election year.
The story about O'Conner agreeing to stay on until after the 2004 election was posted here on Free Republic.l.. more than once.
FR was where I learned about it more than a year before she retired. It was common knowledge.
FR was where I learned about it more than a year before she retired. It was common knowledge.
That wasn't the point on which Kristol was right. Most people knew she would retire soon. What Kristol said was that O'Connor would retire before Bill Rehnquist would. And he was right. None of the other talking heads guessed that except for him. They were all taken by surprise that O'Connor announced her retirement before Rehnquist. That was what Kristol got right.