John McCain just
told Byron York the following:
"Let me just look you in the eye," McCain told me.
"I've said a thousand times on this campaign trail, I've said as
often as I can, that I want to find clones of Alito and Roberts. I
worked as hard as anybody to get them confirmed. I look you in the
eye and tell you I've said a thousand times that I wanted Alito and
Roberts. I have told anybody who will listen. I flat-out tell you I
will have people as close to Roberts and Alito [as possible], and I
am proud of my record of working to get them confirmed, and people
who worked to get them confirmed will tell you how hard I worked."
"I don't get it," McCain continued. "I have a clear record of that.
All I can tell you is my record is clear: I've supported these
guys. I went to the floor of the Senate and spoke in favor of them.
It's in the record, saying, 'You've got to confirm these people.'"
I asked whether McCain had ever drawn any distinction between
Roberts and Alito. "No, no, of course not," McCain said. I asked
about the "wore his conservatism on his sleeve" line. "I'm proud of
people who wear their conservatism on their sleeves, because they
have to have a clear record of strict adherence to the
Constitution," McCain told me. "Remember, in all my remarks, I've
said, look, we're not going to take somebody's word for it. You
have to have a clear record of adherence to the Constitution, a
strict interpretation of the Constitution. I have said that time
after time after time."
To be fair, I would also add that McCain has consistently voted in
favor of conservative judges, including Robert Bork.
And Quin, as emotionally satisfying as it might have been to
some conservatives to use the nuclear option to ram through
judicial appointments, I honestly don't see what was so bad about
the "Gang of 14" compromise in hindsight. Not only did
conservative judges such as Janice Rogers Brown get confirmed, and
Justices Roberts and Alito make it to the Supreme Court, but now
that Republicans are in the minority, they still have the
filibuster as an option. Do you really want to see a President
Clinton or Obama with a rubber stamp for their judicial nominees,
something that would have happened had conservatives gotten their
way with regard to the nuclear option?
topics:
John McCain, Constitution, Supreme Court, Conservatism
