Wednesday, July 06, 2005

On Replacing O'Connor

I have thought more about a new nominee for the SCOTUS, and my conclusion is that Bush is in a tricky situation.

I hate to look at this from a single issue, but abortion is going to play the biggest role in all of this. If Bush nominates a pro-life judge (someone who thought Roe was bad jurisprudence and would reverse it), then the liberals and Democrats will label this person an "extremist" and will probably move to filibuster them.

On the other hand, if Bush nominates someone even in the center (whether they are pro-life or not, they would not move to reverse Roe), much of the conservative base will be angered and alienated. Many conservatives have been waiting years, decades even, for Republican administrators to nominate judges to the bench who would try to undo the damage that Roe did. If Bush blows this chance, it will make the elections in 2006 and 2008 very difficult for the Republicans.

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