Is it as important as it was to make sure George Sr. could pick someone like David Souter? How about Reagan with Kennedy or O'Connor? Or Gerald Ford to select John Paul Stevens?
Just because the President has an "R" next to his name doesn't necessarily mean a strict constructionist will be nominated to the high court.
True, but what is your alternative? For although many Republican Supreme Court picks -- Blackmun, Souter, Stevens -- turn out to be liberal or far-left, when was the last time a Democratic President's pick ended up being disappointingly "Republican" in his judgments once sworn in? (Clinton's picks Breyer and particularly Ginsburg have been reliable liberals.)