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Republican Strategy on the Supreme Court Vacancy

Submitted by Ilya Shapiro on Fri, 05/01/2009 - 10:43
in

President Obama is not the only one with a difficult decision to make in the face of mounting pressure from various groups.  The Republicans will have to decide what posture to take: combative or deferential, political or analytical.

With Obama still at the height of his popularity, and with solid Democratic control of the Senate (even without Arlen Specter and Al Franken), the GOP is unlikely to sustain a filibuster or generate significant opposition to any but the most extreme nominee — such as the radical transnationalist Harold Koh, whose nomination to be the State Department’s head lawyer is currently pending.

What Republicans should do instead is force a full public debate about constitutional interpretation and judicial philosophy, laying out in vivid detail what kind of judges they want.  Instead of shrilly opposing whomever Obama nominates on partisan grounds, now is the time to show the American people the stark differences between the two parties on one of the few issues on which the stated Republican view continues to command strong and steady support nationwide.  If the party is serious about constitutionalism and the rule of law, it should use this opportunity for education, not grandstanding.

C/P Cato@Liberty

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Lay down the law.

Submitted by thirdeblue on Fri, 05/01/2009 - 12:23.

Give Obama three choices or they refuse to vote for anybody.  That'll show him.

ummm

Submitted by Ray in TX on Fri, 05/01/2009 - 12:27.

They don't need any Republican votes.

Besides, you still have a couple of turncoats in Maine to kick out of the party.

Freedom..

Submitted by richel8 on Thu, 07/16/2009 - 08:50.

Yes definitely we have every freedom to choose who to vote and what party.

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I was being facetious

Submitted by thirdeblue on Fri, 05/01/2009 - 13:58.

Seriously.  The GOP would like a bunch of clowns dictating to the president who they would be willing to accept, especialy when he can get probably anybody OKed without a single Republican vote.

It would be like Isiah Thomas sending the L.A. Lakers his list of conditions before becoming their Head Coach.

Obama's comments today

Submitted by someone on Fri, 05/01/2009 - 15:58.

I will seek someone who understands that justice isn't about some abstract legal theory or a footnote in a casebook. It is also about how our laws affect ... peoples' lives, whether they can make a living and care for their families, whether they feel safe in their homes and welcomed in their own nation. I view that quality of empathy, of understanding and identifying with peoples' hopes and struggles, as an essential ingredient for arriving at just decisions and outcomes. I will seek somebody who is dedicated to the rule of law, who honors our constitutional traditions, who respects the integrity of the judicial process and the appropriate limits of the judicial role. I will seek somebody who shares my respect for the constitutional values on which this nation was founded and who brings a thoughtful understanding of how to apply them in our time.

 

That sounds good to me. Are there any suggestions for what the repulicans should be advocating?

 

judges

Submitted by chemjeff on Sat, 05/02/2009 - 07:57.

They all SAY they want the best and brightest Constitutional scholars on the bench, yadda yadda.  We'll see whom he picks.  My guess is that it will be someone who knows something about the Constitution but who will really play up the "empathy for the common man" angle.

Besides, I don't want a judge to empathize with me.  I'd much rather have one who tells it like it is.

I want that black lady from the midwest (chitown?)

Submitted by RisingTide on Tue, 05/05/2009 - 14:54.

who wrote that firebrand of a decision on (I think it was torture. maybe it was illegal wiretapping)... at any rate, the republicans were out for blood at the time (all in how poorly written of a decision it was, yadda yadda).

That lady got courage, and enough wit to know when she'll be pilloried anyhow.

One place, at least

Submitted by BWall on Fri, 05/01/2009 - 19:22.

Republicans can also afford to relax a bit on this one, which is good since numbers in the Senate are not in their favor.  Even if Obama does appoint the most flamingly liberal candidate possible to the vacant seat, he's replacing a fairly liberal judge, and the balance will remain 4-4-1 (really 5-4 in favor of conservatives, since Kennedy tends conservative on most issues).  Since the next two to retire will probably be Ginsburg and Stevens, who are also both liberal, the Court probably won't change a great deal anytime soon. 

If the GOP were smart and

Submitted by NoMoreBlatherDotCom on Sat, 05/02/2009 - 15:42.

If the GOP were smart and pigs could fly, they'd point out that Sotomayor was a member of the PRLDEF and they'd look into whether she has links to those even more extreme. See the links at the end of this post for more on a couple of her supporters.

Republican strategy...

Submitted by Jim Dandy to th... on Sun, 05/03/2009 - 17:56.

... will be laid out tomorrow by el Rushbo, Minister of Propaganda, and the de facto Comandante of today's GOP and its Conservative majority.

He will call the tune, and Cornyn, Hatch, Boehner, Cantor, and the rest of the dittoheads will dance to it.

I DO like Blather's strategy, though:  Demonization, character assassination, and scorched-earth have really worked well lately.  Sorta.  

I looked through dozens of Google links, and I could find nothing showing Judge Sotomayor was a member of PRLDEF?  Besides, what's wrong with being a member of a respected, mainstream Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund?

Unless, of course, you are convinced that Hispanics and Puerto Ricans are a problem, like Blather keeps saying.

I DO like Blather's strategy,

Submitted by Lonestar Bill on Sun, 05/03/2009 - 20:53.

I DO like Blather's strategy, though:  Demonization, character assassination, and scorched-earth have really worked well lately

Worked great on Bork. You guys wrote the book.

bork bork bork

Submitted by chemjeff on Mon, 05/04/2009 - 03:24.

Oh, but Lonestar Bill, you forget: Bork was a dangerous rightwing extremist who hated the Constitution and would, in person, force women into having back-alley abortions, burn books, kick grandma out onto the street, and strangle small, cute puppies.  But when a jurist claims that it's okay to prosecute rapists under the interstate commerce clause, or that publicly funded abortions are okay because there's also public funding for childbirth, well those aren't nutty views, those are perfectly respectable!

hey, it's also acceptable to prosecute

Submitted by RisingTide on Tue, 05/05/2009 - 14:58.

people taking teens across state lines for an abortion.

pot is black. so is kettle.

Do you mean

Submitted by Lonestar Bill on Tue, 05/05/2009 - 15:06.

people other than the teen's parents?

ya.

Submitted by RisingTide on Tue, 05/05/2009 - 15:14.

though I suppose, based on how the law is written, if only one parent has given consent, the driver might still be in trouble.

The GOP Senators ought to...

Submitted by The Sanchez Report on Sun, 05/03/2009 - 19:39.

use this opportunity to provide a contrast between the two party's. They should make the case as to why the next Justice needs to interpret the law instead of making one. Most Americans still lean center-right and the GOP should force the Democrats to take a position on this basic understanding of what the Constitution requires of the Supreme Court. If the nominee turns out to be Sotomayor, the Dems along with the media will undoubtedly try to use this to show how "mean" and "anti-hispanic" the Republicans happen to be. For this reason, the GOP should line up the few Hispanic Republicans that have a public face, like Senator Mel Martinez and Leslie Sanchez, and push them out to the cable networks to make the case against Sotomayor. This will blunt the Liberals attempt to portray the GOP as anti Hispanic.

www.sanchezreport.com

I would be really curious...

Submitted by Jim Dandy to th... on Sun, 05/03/2009 - 20:07.

...to hear from the people here just how many think that, if she is nominated by President Obama, Judge Sotomayor deserves an up-or-down vote without a filibuster?

Count me in

Submitted by BWall on Tue, 05/05/2009 - 15:02.

I'm all for up-or-down votes on nominees no matter which party is in power. 

Vote

Submitted by echangwi on Wed, 06/17/2009 - 17:57.

You know what? I think republicans are handling very well their role of minority to put pressure on Congress and The White House. Otherwise, you would be asking them to pack and leave Washington.

 

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