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This is a classic GOP 'stealth' nomination as I see it. The fact of the matter is that we don't know John Roberts' position on any of the four types of cases for which O'Connor often provided a 'fifth' vote: abortion, separation of church/state, affirmative action, and the death penalty. The rest doesn't much matter, since O'Connor was otherwise a conservative vote.

We know that Roberts co-authored a brief 15 years ago in which one paragraph that he very well may not even have written expressed the administration's opposition to Roe v Wade. That's it. We also know that his wife is a pro-life activist, which doesn't necessarily mean a thing. I had a starkly different view of abortion and Roe v Wade than did my ex-wives, fwiw.

We also know he has a solid Republican resume (note I said "Republican"; I didn't say "conservative"), which was precisely what one said about Anthony Kennedy and Sandra Day O'Connor when they were nominated. How quickly we forget that Anthony Kennedy was once regarded as the leader of a conservative bastion in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The GOP has struck out 4-1 when it comes to 'stealth' nominees on the current court. Let's hope for another happy accident!