Mathematics:
McCain 1
Specter 1
Collins 1
Chaffee 1
Snowe 1
DeWine 1
That's 6, people, and the GOP majority in the Senate is 5.
Those are the MINIMUM votes from GOP Senators who would likely not support a hardline conservative nominee. A Luttig nomination to provide red meat to our most conservative folks here would yield a quiet FR and joy in the hearts of all, and certainly no such outcry that we're seeing here this morning -- and he'd never serve a day on the USSC because he is not confirmable. How do I know that? Because he was not nominated. Bush would have already asked those names above. He met with Specter again the day after Rehnquist died. He's not guessing at confirmability. He knows because he's been told.
Conservative picks have to be stealthy. There's no other way to get them confirmed. This pick is precisely that.
Again, you may think you've hit on some brilliant insight, but you're using circular logic to arrive at your conclusion.
You do make a good point about the RINOs. Sad but true. However, the fight would be worth it regardless of whether the person is confirmed. It would challenge the precedent that is quickly becoming set in stone, i.e. that it is acceptable for liberals to turn the confirmation process into a results oriented policy-making device.
I think your analysis is wrong. Specter would have come around on Luttig. McCain would have been required to in order to preserve his 2008 run for president. Dewine took a lot of heat in Ohio so he would have fallen also.
Chafee, you're right about; however, we would have picked up at least one of the Maine sens. So we would have lost two Republican votes but would have picked up several Democratic votes.
Judiciary committee vote: 10-8, Senate vote 60-40 to confirm, maybe a little bit less.
This choice is horrible.
And no, I thought Cheney was a great pick and Roberts too.
Really. So, if the battle looks to be tough, surrender?
The democrats clearly own our asses if this is the mentality.
This pick is most definitely stealthy, that is certain.
But we have yet to ascertain if it is "conservative."