While they are certainly not his main support base (one would hope) it is the organization that is backing his nomination.
Posted on 09/21/2005 1:55:53 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - Chief Justice-nominee John Roberts, his confirmation secure, picked up support from fractured Senate Democrats Wednesday as President Bush met lawmakers to discuss a second, probably more contentious, vacancy on the Supreme Court.
The Judiciary Committee's senior Democrat, Patrick Leahy of Vermont, announced his support for Roberts shortly after leaving the White House, guaranteeing bipartisan backing for the nominee in Thursday's vote by the panel.
But Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, longtime liberal stalwart Edward Kennedy and former presidential candidate John Kerry all are opposing Roberts, underscoring a split in the Senate's 44 Democrats on whether they can or should mount even symbolic opposition to the successor of the late William H. Rehnquist.
Republicans control the Senate and the Judiciary Committee, so majority support was already assured for the panel's vote on Thursday and for confirmation next week.
However, some of the Democrats' liberal supporters hoped that a strong vote against Roberts would signal to Bush that replacing retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor with a far-right conservative would lead to a bigger fight in the Senate.
Leahy, who has led filibuster fights against Bush's lower court nominees, said in a speech on the Senate floor, "I do not intend to lend my support to an effort by this president to move the Supreme Court and the law radically to the right."
But Roberts "is a man of integrity," said Leahy. "I can only take him at his word that he does not have an ideological agenda."
Other Democrats, including Tim Johnson of South Dakota and Max Baucus of Montana, also have announced their support. Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana are leaning toward voting for Roberts, and Kent Conrad of North Dakota is viewed as a possible vote for him as well.
Roberts is "very well credentialed," Landrieu said Wednesday.
The other six Judiciary Democrats — Joseph Biden, Herb Kohl, Charles Schumer, Dick Durbin, Russell Feingold and Dianne Feinstein — have yet to announce their votes.
Durbin and Schumer were confronted by television producer Norman Lear and other major party supporters during a trip to the West Coast over the weekend, according to party officials familiar with the conversation.
These Democratic supporters are strongly opposed to Roberts, and want Durbin, the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate, and Schumer, the head of the campaign committee, to oppose his confirmation.
Leahy's decision was "inexplicable and deeply disappointing," said Ralph Neas, head of People for the American Way.
The stakes become greater with the next nominee, and "the next nomination is going to be a great deal more contentious," said Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record), R-Pa., the Judiciary Committee's chairman.
The conservative Roberts is replacing Rehnquist, a reliably conservative vote on the court. Bush's next nominee will replace O'Connor, one of the court's swing voters on affirmative action, abortion, campaign finance, discrimination and death penalty cases. Replacing her could give the president a chance swing the court to the right on many issues.
First lady Laura Bush reiterated in an Associated Press interview Tuesday that she hoped the president would name a woman.
Specter cautioned Bush during the Wednesday morning meeting that nominating either Priscilla Owen or Janice Rogers Brown — two appeals court judges Democrats filibustered but eventually allowed to be confirmed — to the O'Connor seat could cause problems, according to a congressional official familiar with the meeting. That official spoke on condition of anonymity because the give-and-take was considered confidential.
The senators offered some names to the president, who did not share his own opinions. White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Bush was considering a diverse list.
Among candidates widely mentioned are: federal appellate judges Owen, Brown, Edith Brown Clement, Edith Holland Jones, Emilio Garza, Edward Charles Prado, Alice Batchelder, Karen Williams, J. Michael Luttig, J. Harvie Wilkinson, Michael McConnell and Samuel Alito. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, former Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson, lawyer Miguel Estrada and Maura Corrigan, a member of the Michigan Supreme Court, are also considered possibilities.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said he urged the president to announce his decision within the next 10 days or so. Frist said a new justice could be confirmed "by Thanksgiving if that nomination comes quickly enough."
Specter suggested that the president wait awhile, and said he had talked to O'Connor about staying on through the full 2005-2006 term.
"It would be quite a sacrifice for her, but she's prepared to do it if she is asked," Specter said. "By next June we'll know a lot more about Judge Roberts ... than we do today."
___
Associated Press writers Deb Riechmann and David Espo contributed to this report.
She will vote yes. That is the reason why Leaky voted yes, to give her cover with the party. A no vote would sink her presidential bid. She has been moving to the middle for a while in a transparent attempt to re-capture the right side of the Democratic base. I think they are smarter than that but I bet money she votes yes.
A moderate? who's fooling who? oohh, AP article, nobody's fooling anybody...
WTH? Why would he even think that? That sounds like Kennedy or Boxer speaking.
All of the RINO comments aside, why would he want that at all??
While they are certainly not his main support base (one would hope) it is the organization that is backing his nomination.
Good post. Thanks for the first hand information.
If I posted what I actually thought, the post would be removed in seconds.
I notice that throughout this process, the MSM is avoiding the mention of Nelson, Florida.(D)
I'm betting that he is voting for confirmation, as he is up in 06.
Which shows that he doesn't have to worry about 06.
Obama whatever will vote nay, in my opinion.
I don't think Gonzalez is as liberal as O'Connor. Do you disagree with that?
Given some of the outright misrepresentations about Roberts, I get the feeling the same thing was done to Gonzales.
The left does NOT want an hispanic on the Supreme Court.
There is an awful lot of truth to what you say. Actually, I'd think that Gonzalez has a paper trail far more evident than Roberts' was.
An a conservative scale of 1 - 10 with 10 being rabidly conservative, I'd give O'Connor about a 4 or 4+.
I give Gonzalez a 6.
I gave unknown Roberts only a 7.
Rehnquist was about an 8.
Therefore, Roberts/Gonzalez would be MORE conservative than was Rehnquist/O'Connor.
I would welcome Gonzalez. And it doesn't hurt that he's hispanic.
Attention illiterate at the AP: ALL support for Roberts is "democratic". The gramatically inept AP is really trying to say Roberts is picking up Democrat PARTY support.
Gonzalez will NOT energize the base, Gonzalez will divide the base.
His negatives have been discussed too often to be viable.
See #111.
The problem with the theory is getting another justice to step down. 85 year old Stevens should do so, given he's a republican nominee (Gerald Ford) but he won't.
My fear is that he's a senile old man like Thurmond was with caretakers who prop him up and write all his material.
There should be physical/mental ability tests that justices must pass to maintain their seats, otherwise be forcibly retired.
The confirmation hearings were quite instructive.
Thanks for sharing Arlen, don't let the door hit your A@@ on the way out. I bet W announces the next one the minute Roberts is confirmed
I doubt that he is as liberal as Ruth Ginsberg, but I don't know enough about him to say as to O'Connor.
I'll agree until shown otherwise, but I would like to see someone as far to the right as ginsburg is to the left.
Aren't they screaming about "balance?"
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