Never happened that someone "that liberal" was presented for confirmation. You are simply engaging in history revisionism. No one knew Souter was liberal, and no Republican judge ever testifies "Put me on the court, and I promise to stab you in the back and be an activist liberal judge once I get on the court"
Souter's fan club marketed him as a strict-constructionist Bork-like judge, just without any paper trail to prove it. He was an "originalist" solely because they said he was.
Gorsuch's fan club likewise marketed him as a strict-constructionist Bork-like judge, just without any paper trail to prove it. He was an "originalist" solely because they said he was.
The main difference: Souter was being picked to replace a liberal judge, and had to get confirmed by a Democrat majority Senate. Gorsuch was being picked to replace an iconic conservative judge, and had to get confirmed by a Republican majority Senate.
And here's another interesting difference: Despite facing a majority Democrat Senate, Souter NEVER said Roe v. Wade was super duper settled law and publicly pledged to the Senate he would uphold it. But Gorsuch did. If he IS a "Scalia-like judge", then he simply lied to a Republican majority Senate and pretended to be more liberal than he actually is. I'd find it bizarre that a judge would feel the need to do that when facing a Republican Senate, given the Democrats did NOT have the votes to defeat him.
bump