October 27, 2005
New Old Short Lists
Here's the scuttle:
Sources say that Judge Priscilla Owen of the 5th circuit, Judge Michael McConnell of the , J. Harvie Wilkinson of the 4th circuit, Judge Edith Jones of the 5th circuit and Judge Edith Clement of the 5th circuit and Judge Karen Williams of the 4th circuit had interviews with Bush. Alice Batchelder was also reportedly vetted, though some Republicans in Michigan expressed discomfort with her for reasons unrelated to her jurisprudence.
A Republican ally of the White House lists these names: "Luttig, Alito, Owen, McConnell, Wiliams. JR Brown."
The AP's list includes Judge Sam Alito of the 3rd circuit, Judge Emilio Garza of the 5th circuit, A.G. Alberto Gonzales, Jones, Judge Michael Luttig of the 4th circuit, McConnell, Ex-SG Ted Olson, Thompson, Wilkinson, Owen, Miguel Estrada, Clement, Judge Janice Rogers Brown of the DC circuit, Batchelder of the sixth circuit, Williams, Chief Justice Maura Corrigan of the Michigan Supreme Court, DC lawyer Maureen Mahoney.
National Review's Adler has Williams, Batchelder, Sykes, Corrigan, Alito, Olson, McConnell, Judge Consuelo Callahan, Justice Raoul Cantero of Fla, Judge Jeff Sutton of the 6th circuit and Mahoney.
Real Clear Politics has its own short list.
National Review's Lopez: "For the second time in two weeks someone serious has said the name "Chris Cox" for Scotus to me."
Posted at 02:00 PM
Comments
Slight correction:
Jeff Sutton is not a practicing "lawyer" anymore, he's a federal judge on the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Plainsman | 10.27.05 03:12 PM
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With all do respect to these outstanding candidates, I'm still hoping it's JR-B!
What a pick!
What a statement!
What a fight!
chris hinz | 10.27.05 04:44 PM
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Why only such a passing glance at Edith Jones?
The pro-life pro-Miers crowd would love her.
She is already consistently in just about all originalists's top 5. Many originalists list her in their top 1-2-or-3.
Sure, the Democrats would go ballistic... but they do that if anyone distinctly to the right of O'Connor is nominated... so why not unite and fire up ALL the right and get the nomination started "hitting the ground running" from ALL the conservatives, without reservation or hesitation.
Therefore, Edith Jones is the best one for uniting and exciting ALL conservatives.
Rob McEwen | 10.27.05 08:26 PM
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Mr. President,
Edith Jones please.
Andrew Hunter | 10.27.05 10:20 PM
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One more thing... I now have severe reservations about McConnell. Many pro-lifers are excited about him because his has made statements in the past which are very critical of Roe.
However, McConnnell has more recently stated "now that the abortion question is completely settled, the only avenue for any change is through constitutional amendment."
McConnell also stated: "At the time when Roe v. Wade came down, it was striking down the statutes of at least 45, if not all 50 of the States of the Union. Today it is much more reflective of the consensus of the American people on the subject. I believe that the doctrinal analysis offered in Planned Parenthood v. Casey has connected the right much more persuasively to traditional legal materials, and then the weight of stare decisis simply indicates that this is an issue that is settled. It is as thoroughly settled as any issue in current constitutional law."
The entire transcript is here:
http://www.confirmthem.com/?p=830
Some are going to argue that he was "doing a John Roberts" where he was only referring to his role as a judge of a court which is bound to follow SCOTUS even if the judge disagrees with a past SCOUTUS decision. However, I find that interpretation to be a stretch.
Also, regardless of what geeks pinheads like me think, what do you think the Religious Right is going to think about those quotes... when they find them they will turn against McConnell and the conservatives will split one again.
We don't need that... we need unified conservatives to fight this battle! And we don't need to take risks when there are much better candidates out their without such discrepancies that would splinter the conservatives.
Rob McEwen | 10.28.05 02:14 AM
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Why are people such as Frank Easterbrook not mentioned? Is he not conservative enough or too controversial?
Hillel Jacobson | 10.30.05 01:19 AM
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