"Tougher Scrutiny for Roberts: Stakes are raised in confirmation..."

[ailsagirl]

battle

(Sorry if this is a dup-- I can't search.)

Washington -- President Bush's prompt move Monday to nominate John Roberts to succeed William Rehnquist as chief justice simplifies White House strategy to fill a rare double vacancy on the Supreme Court while the president contends with intense criticism on multiple fronts, from the wreckage of Hurricane Katrina to turmoil in Iraq.

Despite warnings of a tough confirmation fight and united opposition from liberal interest groups, Roberts, a federal appellate court judge, had been all but assured confirmation in the Republican-dominated Senate before Rehnquist's death Saturday.

The president's decision to nominate Roberts for the post of chief justice now shifts the fight back to the vacancy left by retiring centrist Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the seat to which Roberts was first nominated.

Bush faces new and possibly conflicting pressures for the O'Connor slot: to make history by naming the first Latino justice of the Supreme Court, to replace the court's first woman with another female justice and to reshape the court in a solidly conservative mold for a generation led by the 50-year-old Roberts.

:nopity:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/09/06/MNG07EJ2F51.DTL&hw=roberts&sn=001&sc=1000

[Gloria]

1. When I called Reid's office last week, I commented on Roberts ethics and

the aide said "He's dirty." If an aide to Reid is telling me this, then I expect a real tough stance on this guy. If I don't see it, that will do it for me...I will have to question whether it's worth my time to be involved in politics any more...