With the Roberts vote nothing now but a formality, the press is looking to Bush's next Supreme Court nominee. And the Dems have already lost the battle. While the minority party would be expected to contest a president's nominee, in Sunday's
New York Times, we find out that
Republicans have declared the next pick might not get a free pass....
With an expected 100% yes vote from GOP senators on Roberts (and perhaps half of the Democrats), now it sounds like
they mean business!
Now, both socially conservative and more liberal Republican senators say they may vote against confirmation of the next nominee if the pick leans too far to the left or the right on prominent issues like abortion rights.Any Republican defection could provide cover for Democrats who want to oppose confirmation, protecting them politically in Republican-leaning states. Democrats have vowed to dig in for a tough fight over the nominee to succeed Justice Sandra Day O'Connor because she was a pivotal swing vote on the court.
"It is going to be different," said Senator Lincoln Chafee, Republican of Rhode Island, who is socially liberal and has said he will vote to confirm Judge Roberts.
It is certainly heartening to learn that the next set of hearings will be "different." Presumably that means that the nominee will be expected to answer a few questions. And perhaps it means that Chairman Specter will push harder for document releases. But shouldn't it be
Democrats who are vowing to hold the next candidate to an appropriate standard? I certainly think so. Sadly, though, when Chafee (Chafee!) says it will be different next time, it seems more believable than if it were coming from someone on our team. Instead, the Dems are just waiting for some of Bush's buddies to "cover" them. Since the Democrats opposed the first nominee so ineffetively, the GOP seems to have decided it would be better simply to play the role of the opposition party themselves next time.
Dude, where's my party?