McCain: Judging judges
Posted: Tuesday, May 06, 2008 9:03 AM by Mark Murray
According to advanced excerpts of his speech on his judicial philosophy today, McCain will blast both Obama and Clinton for supporting judicial activism. “They are both lawyers themselves, and don't seem to mind at all when fundamental questions of social policy are preemptively decided by judges instead of by the people and their elected representatives. Nor have they raised objections to the unfair treatment of judicial nominees. For both Senator Obama and Senator Clinton, it turned out that not even John Roberts was quite good enough for them… And just where did John Roberts fall short, by [Obama’s] measure? Well, a justice of the court, as Senator Obama explained it – and I quote – should share ‘one's deepest values, one's core concerns, one's broader perspectives on how the world works, and the depth and breadth of one's empathy.’”
“These vague words attempt to justify judicial activism – come to think of it, they sound like an activist judge wrote them. And whatever they mean exactly, somehow Senator Obama's standards proved too lofty a standard for a nominee who was brilliant, fair-minded, and learned in the law, a nominee of clear rectitude who had proved more than the equal of any lawyer on the Judiciary Committee, and who today is respected by all as the Chief Justice of the United States. Somehow, by Senator Obama's standard, even Judge Roberts didn't measure up. And neither did Justice Samuel Alito. Apparently, nobody quite fits the bill except for an elite group of activist judges, lawyers, and law professors who think they know wisdom when they see it – and they see it only in each other.”
A little help from his friends… “During its cash-starved days before the New Hampshire primary, John McCain's presidential campaign got some help from a political action committee set up to help congressional candidates who would fight wasteful spending in Washington,” the Boston Globe writes. “But the Porkbuster political action committee set up by US Representative Jeff Flake violated federal contribution limits and, by its own account, wasted $2,100 to rent Granite State hotel rooms that were never used.”
Is Russia or China the most important issue the media doesn't cover? On the issue of Russia, don't miss McCain's comments about kicking them out of the G8. It's not a new position for him, but he's not backing down from the idea.
Also, McCain has started a Spanish-language Web site to try and woo Hispanic voters, and he did it on… Cinco de Mayo.
