We learned last week when President Bush nominated U.S. Court of Appeals Judge John G. Roberts Jr. for the Supreme Court.
Bush introduced his choice for the nation’s 109th justice July 19 in a prime time East Room ceremony and, as they say, flipped the script.
A portrait of Roberts emerged as a lawyer and jurist who earned solid conservative credentials but built a strong resume. His profile exposes him as man with a sharp legal mind who knows how to temper his views with a dose of practicality. He is affable, charming, and most of all, fully qualified. He also passes the Norman Rockwell test, with a family that includes two precocious toddlers.
“Qualified and likeable, what do we do with that,” Dems wondered aloud.
I learned the next morning when I received this email dispatch from John Kerry:
“Dear Nate (Why does John think we are on a first name basis?),Here is some free advice for John Kerry and his party: you won’t do any better than this. President Bush is not going to nominate a liberal or even a Sandra Day O’Connor. If you got a nominee who is known for being fair, you should be celebrating.
This much is clear already. Judge Roberts is no Sandra Day O’Connor (Don’t you like it when politicians point out the blatantly obvious?).
Last night we learned that President Bush wants to replace a woman who voted to uphold Roe v. Wade with a man who argued against Roe v. Wade, and that sends a clear signal that this White House remains bent on opening old wounds and dividing America.”
He “argued against Roe v. Wade” — there was the totality of John Kerry’s objection to Judge Roberts. We were expecting the second coming of Robert Bork and got a man who “argued against Roe v. Wade.”
Here’s what you do, confirm Judge Roberts unanimously. Practically speaking, you won’t defeat him, and strategically it could pay dividends for you.
The Republicans have been doing a moderately successful job of painting Democrats as obstructionists. They have been hammering “liberals” for not giving nominees to lower courts an “up or down vote.” Confirm Judge Roberts unanimously, and you can silence all that nonsense.
Save your weapons for a candidate you know that you really can’t live with. If you confirm Judge Roberts, you will have credibility to wage appropriate battle against the next Robert Bork. No longer will anyone be able to paint you as an obstructionist because you will always be able to point at Judge Roberts and say, “give us a decent candidate and we have proved that we will do the right thing.”
Spend your political capital fighting someone that everyone acknowledges is fair and qualified, and Americans will shake their heads every time you object to a nominee. “If we couldn’t trust you to be fair to a guy who was a good pick, how can we trust you on any others?”
The fact that John Kerry doesn’t have the good sense to see this and fall in line is probably only one of many reasons he isn’t the person picking the nominee.
