Posted on 09/21/2005 9:44:32 PM PDT by alessandrofiaschi
WASHINGTON, Sept. 21 - President Bush is focused on Hispanics, African-Americans and women to succeed Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, and he may announce his choice for her seat on the Supreme Court as early as the court's opening days in October, Republican strategists said on Wednesday.
Republicans noted that it was still early in the process and that the strategists were putting forth a diverse selection of potential nominees in part to portray the White House as interested in people from politically important constituencies.
The timing of the announcement, strategists said, could allow a nominee to be confirmed as early as Thanksgiving and reflected the president's stated desire to move quickly. The strategists spoke on condition of anonymity because the president has ordered his aides and allies not to talk about internal deliberations over his choice for the court.
On Wednesday morning, the White House quickly rejected a suggestion by Senator Arlen Specter, the Pennsylvania Republican who is chairman of the Judiciary Committee, that Mr. Bush delay the nomination and ask Justice O'Connor to stay on through the court's next term, which ends next June. Mr. Specter made the suggestion in a meeting with Mr. Bush and Senate leaders at the White House.
"The president respects Senator Specter and his opinions," Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary, told reporters after the meeting. Nonetheless, Mr. McClellan said, "Justice O'Connor has expressed her desire to leave the court."
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(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Janice R. Brown... is my first-best dream; Priscilla R. Owen, my second one. I bet the second.
J.R. Brown #1
Janice Rogers Brown is my first pick.
That makes three of us.....J. R. Brown.....Onyx we need your vote too!
There. Corrected.
Janice Rogers Brown.
I'm a praying :)
Specter's suggestion is pure insanity and cowardice. No other explanation.
Do they actually know what he is focused on? Or are they making it up?
She's a conservative justice, people...see the NY Slimes wants Bush to choose a liberal woman, black, or Hispanic.
Ditto that. Now, does Bush have the cojones?
Bump to J.R. Brown. Now let's see if he'll make the attempt.
Is any of this storm coming near you? Have you heard from cajun girl?
I would place Edith Jones far in ahead of Priscilla Owen. First, we know for a fact that Jones is a Scalia-type. She has had a long record of being a Scalia brand of judge. Owen, while most consider her conservative, is not as ardent a conservative, or so it would seem, as Jones. Jones would be to the right what Ginsburg is to the left. To borrow a phrase from my father, Edith Jones is a "mean ass conservative", and a mean ass conservative is exactly what this court needs.
I watched Janice Rogers Brown's confirmation hearings on C-span today and she was no where near as smooth and in command as JGRjr was last week. That may be too high a bar to set but if she is chosen she will need some coaching for a better showing.
There is not one person that can convince me the NYT's knows what the President's intentions are.
There is not one person that can convince me anyone that would know, is leaking anything to the press.
Here's something I will throw out as very likely. The President has probably had his preferred selection decided long in advance, as he had Roberts in his sights long ago. The rest is just a game he has to play with the Senate.
Why don't I believe this story? Oh, New York Times. Never Mind.
I would like Jones too.
No and no I haven't. She's in Baton Rouge, right?
Jones was born in 1949 (in PA, but now she is Texans), Owen in 1954 (in TX)
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