"It is maddening that Bush skipped over a giant pool of candidates with a proven strict constructionalist history."
This is my biggest problem the nomination as well. The only thing that has me on the fence is the hue and cry over her pedigree.
Maybe this will clear your head. It is poor etiquette to discuss the subject, but let's face it Scalia isn't going to be around forever. A few years perhaps. I think it is fair to say that the Democrats have a 50% chance of winning the Presidency, perhaps more. Kerry had the most liberal voting record in the Senate, no substantive policy alternatives, and held both sides of many issues. He still got within 3 points of winning.
So this could be the last chance we have to replace Scalia. If the Democrats win the presidency, at best Scalia would be replaced with Souter, and almost certainly someone far worse.