“That argument would have been difficult sell given they highly regard Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who served as a judge for 6 years at the state level and was a member of the Arizona Court of Appeals when Reagan nominated her for the Supreme Court and she was confirmed unanimously.”
My comment about judicial experience dealt SPECIFICALLY with lack of experience on the federal bench.
The U.S. is not the same country that it was forty years ago (O’Connor joined SCOTUS in 1981).
Reagan nominated O’Connor as a favor to Barry Goldwater, and at the time she was considered a “lightweight” (read some of the news articles at the time).
Things were political back then, but nowhere near the stark political polarization that exists today.
Well, bottom line, arguing someone lacks judicial experience when they have been a judge for 14 consecutive years is an absurdity. Murkowski and Collins also voted to confirm Kagan who was never a judge.