Never Again

So it looks like Senate Republicans are getting tired of defending the President's more controversial judicial nominations. I'm wondering what the cause for the President's push on these nominations really is? Is it just partisan stubborness? I think maybe not. Who knows if any in the administration are thinking on these terms, but after reading about Justice Stevens' unexpected lurch to the left, it occurs to me just how betrayed many current Republicans must feel by Justice Souter (though appointed by the first President Bush, he's consistently voted with the liberals and wrote a strong dissent in Bush v. Gore).

I happen to think Souter votes quite nicely, but if Clinton had nominated a justice who went on to strike down Roe or had joined the majority in Bush v. Gore, I sure can see Democrats going nuts. I wonder if a similar feeling is an undercurrent to the current administration's approach to judicial nomination. Perhaps they fear moderates because they might just as easily turn out to be center-left as center-right.

UPDATE: Jackpot! Here's what the Eagle Forum's Phyllis Schlafly has to say in her vision for 2003:

Bush was elected in 2000 and successful in campaigning for Republican Senate candidates in 2002 largely because of the judicial issue, and his constituency will leave him if he appoints another Justice Souter.

Chalk that up as a completely unveiled threat.

(Aside: I wonder if there's a way to sculpt this into a law review article?)