A Bumpy Ride Ahead - Comments From The Right Wing

Here is what you can look forward to in the coming months over the nomination of a new Supreme Court Justice: Confirm Them: Let me be blunt. If President Bush nominates Alberto Gonzales to fill O’Connor’s seat or any other vacancy that may arise during his second term, then I am done with him. He’ll be dead to me. And if Gonzales is confirmed, I am not giving the Republican party another dime. It’s time to start walking the talk, boys. Either y’all deliver on Bush’s promise to appoint justices like Scalia and Thomas, or I and others will make you pay for it dearly come election time. And you won’t be able to bring me back into the fold with a “Well, things will be worse if the dems return to power” argument, because at that point I would just as soon wreck the ship and start from scratch. Focus On The Family: President Bush must nominate someone whose judicial philosophy is crystal clear. And no one has been clearer about this than the President himself, who said during his campaign that he would appoint justices in the mold of Clarence Thomas or Antonin Scalia. We have full confidence that he will carry out that pledge." Redstate: Let's get it out there: how many here think that if the President nominates Alberto Gonzales to the Supreme Court it would manifest itself as an unmitigated disaster for the President, the GOP, and conservatives? And if so, how will you react? I do. And if it happens, I'm taking up golf. I'm not going to give any money to any Republican party organization, nor any incumbent. Have you seen enough yet? Ed Kilgore over at TPM Cafe sums it up best: This appointment represents the giant balloon payment at the end of the mortgage the GOP signed with the Cultural Right at least 25 years ago. Social conservatives have agreed over and over again to missed payments, refinancings, and in their view, generous terms, but the balance is finally due, and if Bush doesn't pay up, they'll foreclose their entire alliance with the Republican Party. Sure, they care about other issues, from gay marriage to taxes to Iraq, but abortion is the issue that makes most Cultural Right activists get up in the morning and stuff envelopes and staff phone banks for the GOP. And for decades now, Republicans have told them they can't do anything much about it until they can change the Supreme Court. With a pro-choice Justice stepping down, the subject can no longer be avoided. And thanks to the Souter precedent (and indeed, the O'Connor and Kennedy precedents), there's no way Bush can finesse an appointment that's anything less than a guaranteed vote to overturn Roe. Moreover, if Bush has any willingness to pull a Sister Souljah on the Cultural Right, he's certainly waited a long, long time to exercise it. Solidifying his conservative base has been the first principle of the Bush/Rove formula all along, and as recently as this week, he proved it again with an Iraq speech that appeared to be aimed almost exclusively at shoring up conservative support for his war policies. Oh yes my friends, it's going to be a bumpy ride for sure.