McCain's Justice Should Scare Liberals
Conservatives frequently remind their voters that a president's appointments of like-minded jurists to the Supreme Court are a serious consideration on Election Day.
As a counterpoint, voters of a moderate or liberal bent should be equally or even more concerned given the makeup of the current nine justices.
Sen. John McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee, delivered a speech earlier this month that was relegated to many back pages. He told an audience that his nominations to the court would be in the mold of Chief
Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito. Both were named by President Bush.
That should send shivers down the spines of those who have seen Roberts and Alito line up with justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas as a solid bloc of conservative votes.
On the liberal side, Justice John Paul Stevens is 88, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is in fragile health, and Justice David Souter has talked about wanting to return to his home in New Hampshire.
For those concerned about women's rights on abortion, gun control, and the environment for starters, McCain has laid down his guidelines and they should be disturbing to dissenters.
McCain has consistently voted against Roe vs. Wade issues since coming to the Senate. He promised the National Rifle Association last week that it could count on him in the White House.
Of course, nominations to the high court should not be the single issue for voters.
But Senator McCain's reputation for being a maverick and straying from Republican doctrine from time to time does not include the Supreme Court.
He's given us a fair and clear warning.
Tags: Supreme Court | presidential election 2008 | John McCain
Tools: 
Share
|
| Comments (5) | Print
Reader Comments
John Kerry is not a Supreme Court Justice. But Scalia is, and his church was a non-issue when he was only one of three (out of nine on the high court.) Now that he awkwardly is one of five (out of nine) he actually appeared in a recent TV interview spinning the notion he believes "there is no such thing as a Catholic judge". Disinformation from a member of your Court to now cover a huge judgment error by our President.
Yeah, McCain is a thoughtful choice. The guy married 25 years to a massive beer business that encourages its customers to get "loose as a goose" and abandon all inhibitions is just who you need to "fix" the Supreme Court for church folks.
It's pretty hard to even imagine anything more "upside down", but single-issue voters don't mind at all.
advertisement
John W. Mashek covered politics in Washington for four decades with U.S. News & World Report, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and the Boston Globe. His primary beats were Congress, the White House, and national politics. He covered every presidential election from 1960 to 1996. He was a panelist in three televised presidential debates in 1984, 1988, and 1992.