Monday, January 28, 2008

McCain & Alito ... & Haynes   [Andy McCarthy]

I hope Sen. McCain's explanation to conservatives about his remarks on Justice Alito will include an explanation of (a) why he allowed the Gang of 14 deal to kill the nominations of several conservative judges, (b) why he and Sen. Graham blocked Pentagon General Counsel Jim Haynes from even getting a vote; and (c) how he came to believe the "advice" part of the Constitution's "advice and consent" clause requires a president to consult with the Senate before nominating judges — an assertion made by members in the Gang of 14 in the announcement of their deal.

Just as significantly, I hope he is asked to explain — though no one seems too anxious to press him on this point — (e) whether he agrees that the conservative justices he claims he will appoint to the Supreme Court are virtually certain to invalidate the McCain/Kennedy campaign finance reform law (as Justices Scalia, Thomas, Alito, Kennedy and Chief Justice Roberts have voted to do), and (f), since liberal justices are much more likely to support McCain/Feingold (as Justices Stevens, Souter, Ginsburg, and Breyer have consistently done), what he thinks is more important, campaign finance reform or conservative justices?

01/28 01:35 PMShare