February 10, 2008
IF HE WERE A REAL CONSERVATIVE...:
On judges, don't doubt McCain's conservatism (Carl Tobias, February 11, 2008, CS Monitor)
Critics often target McCain for working with moderate Republicans and Democrats to assemble the despised "Gang of 14." The action of those 14 senators in 2005, however, precluded the Republican majority from detonating the "nuclear option," which would have prevented filibusters for judicial nominees. McCain critics seem to forget that this endeavor ensured that the Senate would not filibuster Justice Alito. The effort also led to the prompt confirmation of many conservative judges, including such luminaries of the right as District of Columbia Circuit Judge Janice Rogers Brown and Eleventh Circuit Judge William Pryor.Some observers have vilified McCain for cooperating with Democrats and reaching across the aisle, practices typified by his involvement with the Gang of 14. Nonetheless, bipartisanship and consensus-building may be attributes that will serve McCain and conservatives well over the longer term.
...he'd have ignored Senate history and blown up the institution so that change was easier, right? Posted by Orrin Judd at February 10, 2008 8:37 PM
This McCain thing is so-o-o-o slick. The man has been set up for a generation as not-Bush, and now it is too late to change the perception.
Posted by: Lou Gots at February 11, 2008 5:08 AMAre we talking Senate history since Rule XXII (1830s) or since 2002? Can't have it both ways. And even if you accept the argument that Abe Fortas was 'filibustered' by partisans, that only gets you back to 1968. What kind of tradition from that year is worth defending?
Posted by: ratbert at February 11, 2008 8:14 AM