Sotomayer

[paulisdead]

When George W was president, Democrats suggested Sotomayer as a potential consensus Supreme Court nominee for Bush because she was known to be a moderate/centrist. Republican Senators said of course they need to pick a "conservative" not a Moderate

Comments

[clever_title]

I was just amused that the same people who excoriated Bush for looking at people other than Federal judges as candidates were recommending Obama "look beyond the Federal bench" for nominees a few weeks back.

Of course, that Obama was a Constitutional law professor makes his attempts to turn Bush's secret policies into law much more chilling.

[wishiwasnt]

people who excoriated Bush for looking at people other than Federal judges as candidates were recommending Obama "look beyond the Federal bench" for nominees a few weeks back.

I don't remember anybody slamming Bush over Roberts's lack of judicial experience. I think people were concerned about Meiers's total lack of thought on Constitutional law.

[clever_title]

And that criticism of Meiers was valid, which is what made comments like these all the more insane:
Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, a Judiciary Committee member who last week switched from the Republican to the Democratic Party, suggested someone in the mold of a statesman or stateswoman, and said he could imagine a nominee who was not a lawyer, if that person had the right credentials.

"I would like to see somebody with broader experience," Specter said. "We have a very diverse country. We need more people to express a woman's point of view or a minority point of view, Hispanic or African American ... somebody who's done something more than wear a black robe for most of their lives."

[wishiwasnt]

In fairness, you can have a candidate with experience in constitutional law who is not a judge. Academics who have published on it, elected officials with a demonstrated aptitude, executive branch officials could all be valid candidates.

Now, appointing a non-lawyer would be idiocy, I totally agree with you there.

[mark_o_rama]

Limbaugh has already labelled her a "reverse racist," if you still consider him relevant these days.