Republican Presidential Candidates Discuss Appointment Of Former Supreme Court Justice O'Connor In Debate

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Article Date: 01 Feb 2008 - 6:00 PDT

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Republican presidential candidates on Wednesday in a televised debate at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, Calif., discussed their views on U.S. Supreme Court appointments, including the appointment of former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the Washington Post reports.

The candidates were asked whether former President Reagan made the right choice in appointing O'Connor to the Supreme Court even though her later rulings conflicted with the views of abortion-rights opponents. According to the Post, neither Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) nor former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said they would criticize Reagan for the appointment (Shear/Eilperin, Washington Post, 1/31).

McCain said, "I'm proud of Sandra Day O'Connor as a fellow Arizonan," adding that the judges he would appoint "are along the lines" of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, who "have a proven record of strict interpretation of the Constitution." Huckabee said that "history will have to determine" if O'Connor was a good appointment, adding that he will "always make every decision, always, on the side of life, every time I could, without equivocation."

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said he would "favo[r]" justices like Roberts, Alito, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, adding, "I like justices that follow the Constitution, do not make law from the bench. I would have much rather had a justice of that nature." Rep. Ron Paul (Texas) said that he would not have appointed O'Connor because he "would have looked for somebody that I would have seen a much stricter constitutionalist" (Debate transcript, 1/30). The debate was sponsored by CNN, The Politico and the Los Angeles Times (Washington Post, 1/31).

McCain Should Outline Views on Supreme Court, Opinion Piece Says

McCain should consider providing ''straight talk'' about his views on Alito and Supreme Court appointments, Chicago Sun-Times columnist Robert Novak writes in an opinion piece. According to Novak, some members of the Republican Party who are "uncomfortable" with McCain as their presidential nomine recently said that he has "privately suggested" that Alito is "too conservative."

Although McCain has disputed the remarks and said that Alito was a "magnificent" appointment, McCain sometimes "says things off the cuff that he sometimes cannot remember exactly," Novak writes. If McCain receives the Republican nomination, he will need "very conservative" voters to support him, Novak writes, adding that some Republican Party members would like McCain to assure them he will not "emulate" former presidents Ford and George H.W. Bush in nominating "liberal justices" (Novak, Chicago Sun-Times, 1/31).

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