President Bush waves as he returns to the White House following his return from Camp David, Sunday, Oct. 30, 2005 in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Posted on 10/30/2005 7:32:18 PM PST by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - President Bush is expected to announce a new nominee for the Supreme Court on Monday, and conservatives close to the White House said the leading candidates appeared to be federal appeals judges Samuel Alito and J. Michael Luttig.
The expected nomination comes just four days after the withdrawal of Harriet Miers in the face of intense conservative opposition.
Alito and Luttig both have strong conservative credentials and would be warmly welcomed by Bush's political base. Others who were under consideration were federal judges Karen Williams, Priscilla Owen, Alice Batchelder and Michael McConnell as well as Michigan Supreme Court Justice Maura Corrigan.
A nominee perceived by Democrats as too conservative could provoke a bitter confirmation fight and possible filibuster, given the increasingly hardened positions over a woman's right to have an abortion, the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman said.
"You have both sides poles apart and insistent on finding some answer to that question in advance of the hearing, which no one is entitled to," said Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record), R-Pa.
He cautioned factions on either side of the abortion issue to not expect the nominee to address the subject. "Guarantees are for used cars and washing machines, not for Supreme Court justices," he said.
Specter also said the president had decided not to take his suggestion that Bush ask retiring Sandra Day O'Connor to stay on for the full court term, which typically ends in June. "She's willing to do so," he said. Conservatives revile O'Connor for staking out moderate and practical positions on controversial issues.
With the expectation that Bush probably will turn to a sitting judge, it was Alito's name that was mentioned often on the Sunday talk shows.
A judge on the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Alito has been dubbed "Scalito" or "Scalia-lite" by some lawyers because his judicial philosophy invites comparisons to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's.
"That is not one of the names that I've suggested to the president," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told "Late Edition" on CNN. "In fact, I've done the opposite. I think it would create a lot of problems."
Reid said Bush would be making a "mistake" were he to settle on a hard-liner simply to appease the far right in his party, especially after conservatives' wrath undermined Miers' nomination.
To avoid a repeat of Miers' failed bid, Bush's nominee will need the support from conservatives that Miers lacked and backing from moderates to escape a Senate filibuster.
American Values President Gary Bauer, a prominent conservative, said he would support a nominee such as Alito as well as federal appeals judges Janice Rogers Brown and Emilio Garza because they are proven conservatives who would strictly interpret the Constitution.
"For me, the criteria has to be to find that individual that has the right philosophy and the right experience to get through a confirmation process," Bauer said. "There are women that fit those characterizations. There are Hispanics, African-Americans."
Reid and other Democrats said that Bush, given his low poll numbers, should nominate a consensus candidate rather than someone selected specifically to rally his conservative base.
"I think the American people can see through this so clearly. The president should come forward with some middle-of-the-road person, somebody that is going to be a good Supreme Court justice, not somebody that's going to be writing the law from the bench," Reid said on ABC's "This Week."
Sen. Charles Schumer (news, bio, voting record), D-N.Y., refused to rule out a Senate filibuster.
The selection of someone with extreme views will not bode well "for the nomination, for the Supreme Court or for his presidency," he told CBS' "Face the Nation."
President Bush waves as he returns to the White House following his return from Camp David, Sunday, Oct. 30, 2005 in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
I still like Diane Sykes for the job.
Thanks, Harry. Now go home and shut up.
Hopefully it'll be Miers again. That was exciting!
The article is all wet. The nominee will be Janice Rogers Brown, because Bush must consolidate his conservative support, and any conservative nominee will bring on a filibuster. So who better than a black female nominee
for Leaky Leahy and Schumer to try and beat on! Besides JRB has a presence about her, and she is extremely well qualified on the record.
LOL
Ironic isn't it? The Dems want someone who won't be "legislating" from the bench. Oh, I also like the part about how Sandra Day O'Connor found "practical" solutions to controversial issues.
Remember me?
Wait but I thought all the other good qualified candidates had turned the job down, and that's why he had to appoint Miers.
Yes, I am still a bit bitter over that pick.
ROFL!
That's who I want too.
That's real strategery.
Sen. Kerry should be for her, since he was probably already against her.
-DAH
There is a strong rumor that it will be Janice Rogers Brown.I think that may be right!
See the following thread:
President Bush to Honor Rosa Parks Monday While She Lies in State by Nominating JRB to SCOTUS
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1512224/posts
Seems fitting to announce it on Halloween, since the MSM will make any openly conservative nominee out to be scarier than Frankenstein's monster.
After Miers, anyone's possible.
For Ginsburg.
Conservatives revile O'Connor for staking out moderate and practical positions on controversial issues.
Was this an editorial or a news report?
It's not going to be Brown.
Anybody who was filibustered before is out.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.