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from NewsMax.com
Judge John Roberts was George Bush’s first choice to replace ailing
Supreme Court Justice Chief William Rehnquist, NewsMax’s Insider Report has learned.
But Rehnquist’s stubborn desire to stay on the court – and some hardball
politics in Washington, may have forced Bush's hand to nominate Roberts
to replace retiring Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.
A top Washington insider tells NewsMax that the vetting process for
picking a new chief justice and other potential nominations had begun
long ago.
And the prevailing wisdom was that Rehnquist, in ill health, would
retire first, or at the same time O’Connor announced her resignation.
At the top of the list to replace Rehnquist was his former clerk, John
Roberts.
The Bush administration loved the selection. Roberts is a solid
conservative who has impeccable legal credentials and no trail of
controversy. He is also young and as Chief Justice could dominate the
high court for decades.
If both Rehnquist’s position and O’Connor’s had opened, Bush could have
also nominated a more moderate associate justice to balance Roberts. The
favorite for that slot was Bush’s long-time friend and current Attorney
General, Alberto Gonzales.
But the veteran Washington player Rehnquist is believed to have forced
Bush’s hand.
By stubbornly declining to resign, Rehnquist forced Bush to pick a
conservative to the court. Had Bush gone with a moderate like Gonzales,
he most assuredly would have faced the wrath of socially conservative
voters in the 2006 midterm election.
Most pundits acknowledge that the President was re-elected primarily
because of the efforts of social conservatives, who came to the polls in
overwhelming numbers this past November.
Exit polls had indicated that moral issues ranked as the most important
factor influencing votes, and pre-election Gallup polling revealed that
25% of the President’s support came from self-defined single-issue
pro-life voters.
Our Washington insider says that as of a week ago, Bush was still
strongly leaning toward selecting Gonzalez.
But Karl Rove’s office placed a number of calls to several leading
evangelical and Catholic leaders who said such a choice would be opposed
by Bush’s core voters.
The source also says that Roberts, once confirmed as associate justice,
is still the favorite to replace Rehnquist.
With an expected confirmation under his belt, Roberts would easily sail
through for a second confirmation process to replace Rehnquist, but that
would again leave open the “swing” vote O’Connor created by retiring.
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