Late Monday night word began spreading across Washington that
President Bush has a Supreme Court nominee and that she hailed from
the 5th Circuit down in the Big Easy.
Edith “Joy” Clement by Tuesday morning was a
household name to any political junkie in America. Liberal groups
sprung into motion, claiming she was an extremist, while up on
Capitol Hill, her name resonated with Republican Senators and
sucked the spirit out of Democrats who doubted they could put up a
serious fight against a Southern belle from Alabama.
“Clement’s name was everywhere in town, and it was kind of
dispiriting because we were hoping that we’d at least be able to
put up a couple of weeks of protest and yell a little bit,” says a
Democratic Senate staffer. “With Clement, it was going to be tough
to do, but we jumped on it and got to work.”
Clement was not the first pick of conservatives, nor was she the
last. With word coming from Chief Justice William
Rehnquist that he would not retire, the thinking inside
the White House and among outside advisers was that Bush was
turning to a list of mostly qualified, conservative female
jurists.
“We were thinking woman, and we were thinking little paper
trail,” says a Democratic Judiciary Committee staffer. “Clement
seemed to fit that description. We were sending her data around to
our bosses before lunchtime.”
ALL THAT EFFORT CAME TO a screeching halt at about 2:15. Republican
insiders began putting out the word that Clement might not be the
final pick. There were rumors that her fellow 5th District judge
Edith Jones had been seen arriving at Reagan
National Airport on Monday night, and that she was in fact the
nominee.
But some obstinate conservatives refused to buy into the gossip;
some, particularly third-party aligned with former Republican
Judiciary staffers and Bush 41 staff, claimed they were personally
briefed at the White House and were informed that someone of
Clement’s character would be the nominee.
So much for posturing.
By 3:30 the name of Judge Michael Luttig began
to circulate, and staff in the White House (ironically doing for
journalists what Karl Rove did for Time magazine’s Matt
Cooper) began steering reporters away from Clement, and toward
other potential nominees.
In fact CNN’s John King reported live that
Republican staffers were steering him away from Clement. One hopes
Democrats won’t be calling for another special prosecutor in this
case.
Luttig rumors began to take hold of D.C., but not before the
John Roberts’ name began to generate increasing
buzz a little after 6 p.m., about an hour before the Roberts family
was expected to arrive at the White House for a tour and dinner
with the President.
ACCORDING TO WHITE HOUSE staff and outside advisers on the
nomination process, the Roberts nomination sends a very clear
signal to both conservatives and Democrats.
“This choice sends the message that this President has the
desire to not get boxed in by his enemies,” says a White House
source. “He could have taken the easy way out, or comparatively
easy way out, and nominated a perfectly acceptable woman like
Clement, or even Jones. But he didn’t. He replaced a woman justice
with a man, and real conservative one at that. If that doesn’t send
a message to Republicans about where this President’s head is at, I
don’t know what will. It makes those buffoons who spent all their
time harping on [Attorney General Alberto]
Gonzales look like petty whiners. Now these folks
are going to try to take credit for the Roberts nomination, but
they have nothing to stand on. Credit for this nomination belongs
to the President, Karl Rove, Senator Bill
Frist and the White House and Senate leadership staff who
did the heavy lifting.”
“Another point,” says a senior Senate staffer, “is that despite
all the talk of compromise and consultation, the Roberts pick was
not something Democrats would have supported wholeheartedly under
any condition. This is a nominee who is disliked by Senators
Schumer, Leahy and Kennedy. This is a shot across the extremist
left bow, and it shows that the President is perhaps willing to
sacrifice on the legislative agenda front for the big, long-term
gains a Roberts on the court represents.”
BY 8 P.M., LIBERAL GROUPS had essentially deleted the name of
Clement on their press releases and e-mails and inserted Roberts’
name. At that point the White House strategy, and those of such
top-flight outside advisers as Ted Olson,
Barbara Comstock, and Boyden Gray
became apparent. The similarity of liberal reactions to Clement and
Roberts gave lie to the extreme left’s approach to any nominee:
smear first, learn later.
“We’ve boxed the MoveOn types and the Ralph
Neas types with today,” says a Senate Judiciary Republican
staffer. “They have no standing. They’d attack anyone, regardless
of credentials.”
That said, the Roberts nomination is expected to generate some
heat, at least in the short term, though according to Democratic
strategists who have briefed Senate Democratic leaders, Minority
Leader Harry Reid is expected to not put up a full
frontal attack against Roberts.
“We are expecting one, if not two, more nominees to the Supreme
Court this calendar year,” says a senior Democratic strategist. “We
have to be true to our values and defend them against a nomination
like Roberts, but we have to be realistic. He’s going to get
through. But we have bigger fights ahead that will be even more
pivotal. We’ve advised folks to keep their powder dry and not to
waste it on this fight. Wait for the biggies to come.”
ADDING TO THE INTRIGUE of a Judge John Roberts nomination to the
Supreme Court is what will happen to his vacated seat on the D.C.
Circuit Court of Appeals once he is confirmed.
According to White House sources, one name that has already been
considered is that of Miguel Estrada, who had
previously been a Bush nominee to the federal bench, but who was
blocked by Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Estrada has
said for some time that he had no interest in revisiting what for a
number of reasons was a painful period for his family. But recent
indications are that Estrada might be willing to give it another
shot.
WHITE HOUSE STAFF AND INSIDERS at the Department of Justice insist
that they continue to expect as many as two additional vacancies on
the Supreme Court. “We’ve operated from that assumption that once
the Chief Justice saw where this was headed, he would be
comfortable in stepping aside on his own timetable,” says a White
House staffer. “We think he’ll be happy with Roberts, and will want
to at least work with him a bit, but that his retirement will
come.”
That retirement would most likely lead to another conservative
nomination, perhaps Clement, perhaps Jones. Should either Justices
Ginsburg or Stevens retire, Republican Senate sources say, Senators
sitting on the Judiciary Committee have told the President during
consultations that Attorney General Alberto
Gonzales would be an acceptable nominee.
