O'Connor's Replacement

I don't have my own version of the "short list." What I do have is an understanding of the forces at work as President Bush begins the process of choosing a justice for the Supreme Court.

The New York Times leads with this paragraph:

Senators from both parties heaped praise on retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor today, and Democrats warned President Bush not to try to replace her with someone whose views they consider extreme. Republicans, meanwhile, signaled that they were girding for a fight.

I'm sorry, but the Democrats can warn until their jowls fall off. This is the moment that the religious right has been waiting for. This Supreme Court vacancy is the precise reason for the monolithic support Christian conservatives have thrown to the GOP for the past twenty years.

The relationship has been strained of late, primarily because of Bush's inaction on abortion and gay rights. This is his last, best chance to glue it back together or let it fly apart. If he does not make a nomination that is guaranteed to reverse Roe v. Wade, Evangelicals will know that they have been had. They have suspected it for some time, but all doubts will be erased if the president tries to hand them another O'Connor or Souter or Kennedy.

Ball's in your court, Mr. President. *You man enough to serve?

_{* The line is from the "Mel Profitt" arc of Wiseguy}