Well, I was just trying to find out if the "in the mold of Scalia" quote attributed to George W. Bush was accurate. Apparently, it's not. Next thing you know they'll be telling us George Washington didn't actually say, "I cannot lie. I did chop down that cherry tree." Politics is soooo ugly.
I like to research and I've been checking the internet for this quote. I found the following excerpt from around the Oct-Nov 2000 timeframe:
"According to Newsweek, Bush has pledged to nominate candidates "in the mold of Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, the courts most ardent conservatives" to the Supreme Court."
- http://www.uaw.org/solidarity/00/1100/feature03.html
The Newsweek article in question was written by Anna Quindlen in the November 7 2000 election issue. I haven't been able to find a copy online to confirm this but articles like the one above refer to it. Maybe this is where the actual quote came from??
I also found:
"It seems that Flesicher is trying to lay the groundwork for someone to be nominated who is not as conservative as Scalia or Thomas. But many stories from the campaign period are quite clear about what Bush said. As noted by the Associated Press, "Throughout the year, Bush tried to frame the issue in terms of philosophy, saying his ideal nominees would base their judgments strictly on the words of the Constitution. Pressed to name a justice who fits that mold, Bush pointed to Scalia and Thomas."
http://www.aim.org/publications/media_monitor/2003/07/15.html
"WASHINGTON (Los Angeles Times) --The two major presidential candidates are giving the voters a sharp, clear choice on the future of the Supreme Court. Texas Gov. George W. Bush says he would choose new justices in the mold of Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. The court's two most conservative justices, they want to repeal a woman's right to abortion. "
http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/10/02/latimes.scotus/
"We really expect that the president will keep his promise, which he made repeatedly in both campaigns, that he would put forth nominees in the profile of Thomas and Scalia," says Jan LaRue, chief counsel of Concerned Women for America, a conservative group.
http://www.usatoday.com/educate/college/polisci/articles/20050710.htm
"During the 2000 campaign, as was his right, Mr. Bush made judicial selection a political issue, saying he intended to appoint as judges people in the mold of Justice Scalia, one of the conservative ideologues on the Supreme Court."
http://www.lawandeverythingelse.com/id62.htm
From this year:
" Ken Mehlman, the newly elected chairman of the Republican National Committee, knew just what his Religious Right audience wanted to hear. Standing in a packed ballroom at Washingtons glitzy Ritz-Carlton Hotel Jan. 19, the former chief of President George W. Bushs re-election campaign told a collection of far-right religious activists that changes are coming starting at the top with the U.S. Supreme Court.
Promises made will be promises kept, Mehlman said. As the Los Angeles Times reported, he went on to call the appointment of judges a presidents most sacred duty.
Concluded Mehlman, Were going to have more Scalias and Thomases.
...
During the 2000 campaign, Bush was asked what sort of justices he would appoint to the Supreme Court. He cited Scalia and Thomas. Several of his lower court appointments Michael McConnell and William Pryor come to mind have been in this mold.
http://www.au.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=7249&abbr=cs_