Tell us, oh non-ignorant one, how McCain’s USSC choices would be any better than G.H.W.Bush’s selection of Souter, etc? McCain is always angling to make deals with the other side. Without even pausing to breathe, he’d sell SCOTUS seats to Kennedy to get a less-popular bill passed that he’s personally vested in.
We didn’t have the 24-hour news cycle, the vast expansion of availability of the internet, and freerepublic to analyze...and force him into withdrawing the nomination.
Remember Harriet Miers?
Public pressure is 100 times more powerful now than it was in the George HW Bush era.