None of the deleterious outcomes you mention, such as division among conservatives, would have happened had someone more qualified been nominated.
Why pit Senate Yorkies against Pitbulls and Rinos? Do you ACTUALLY think they'd win?
By now, everyone understands there is only one qualification: nomination.
Even the advice and consent of the Senate can be circumvented by a recess appointment.
The rest is a hodge-podge of personal and group preference.
Me? I'm still hoping the next opening goes to Bork. That'll get the rebel rousers their fight!
How do you know? The way we are examining these people under the microscope, before they can even talk for themselves ....
I saw people with lots of different views on each of the "favored" nominees. In their backrounds they each were bound not to have ruled, written, etc. 100% the way some conservative group or another thought they should.
Exactly! Instead their seems to be unity among pretend conservatives, republican party loyalists, "moderate republicans," and the left led by the democratic leader of the Senate. They support the nomination while the principled conservatives, quite a few of who voted for Bush solely because of the issue of nominees to the high court, are outraged over such a nomination.