Revival of Reagan Conservatism

Monday, July 11, 2005

Just got this e-mail from John Kerry:

Dear Friend,

Let's make our principles crystal clear right out of the box. We will never support a Supreme Court nominee intent on reversing Roe v. Wade and undoing critical civil rights protections.

From the range of choices the White House is currently considering, America and the Constitution would be best served if President Bush chooses a nominee in the mold of Sandra Day O'Connor, who was named to the Court by no less of a conservative than Ronald Reagan and approved unanimously by the United States Senate.

Sow now compromise is no good. Remember during the Senate fight over judicial nominees how Democrats screamed about the minority party having a say without Senate Republicans getting their way every time? Yet the same Democrats are set on ensuring that the Supreme Court is never filled with justices who would threaten to overturn the bogus Roe v. Wade decision.

Let's take a look at the current ideological leanings of the Supreme Court:
Conservatives: 3 (Rehnquist, Thomas, Scalia)
Moderates: 1 (Kennedy)
Liberals: 4 (Souter, Stevens, Ginsburg, Breyer)

It would be absolutely fair for Bush to nominate someone with similar views to Thomas or Scalia, especially if it's to replace Rehnquist after elevating a moderate such as Alberto Gonzalez to replace O'Connor.

In that situation there would still be more liberals on the court, but the Dems will be satisfied with nothing less than two "Reagan conservatives" who are really moderates.

When the president is conservative, having been elected twice, and his Congress is conservative, it can only be expected that at least one of his Supreme Court nominees is conservative.