CONSEQUENCES:

Democrats Warn Bush on Choosing Successor to O'Connor (DAVID STOUT, 7/01/05, NY Times)

Senators from both parties heaped praise on retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor today, and Democrats warned President Bush not to try to replace her with someone whose views they consider extreme. Republicans, meanwhile, signaled that they were girding for a fight.

"Justice O'Connor has been a voice of reason and moderation on the court," said Senator Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, the minority leader. "It is vital that she be replaced by someone like her, someone who embodies the fundamental American values of freedom, equality and fairness."

Mr. Reid said the president should respect the Senate's "advice and consent" role spelled out in the Constitution and nominate "a highly qualified candidate whose views are within the broad constitutional mainstream and who will make all Americans proud." [...]

[S]enator John S. McCain, Republican of Arizona, said he and many others in Arizona rank Justice O'Connor "as one of our greatest citizens."

Of course, Mr. McCain said, President Bush's nominee will be a conservative. "He campaigned for re-election and made no bones about the fact that it would be a conservative nominee," Mr. McCain said. "Elections have consequences."

Fortunately, the consensus that Senator McCain forged, and that Senator Reid praised, has established that Janice Rogers Brown is a mainstrean nominee.

Posted by Orrin Judd at July 1, 2005 5:26 PM