Obama, Bush, Clinton and transcending partisanship on judges

From the editorialists of the WSJ...

Bipartisan hope springs eternal, even among Washington lawyers. That was the message at the Federalist Society's annual convention last week. After years of obstruction by Senate Democrats, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell offered President-elect Obama a roadmap for ending the political war over judicial nominations. What Mr. Obama does in his early days in office will reveal a lot about the next four years....

A good first gesture would be to renominate some of President Bush's highly qualified judicial picks who have been left to languish for years. Peter Keisler, now nominated to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, is widely considered to have Supreme Court potential. Nominees Steve Matthews and Bob Conrad are strong choices for the Fourth Circuit, allowing the new President to send a signal that he won't play politics with the national security cases that frequently come before that court.There's plenty of precedent: Mr. Bush made an effort early in his Administration by renominating Clinton judges Roger Gregory and Barrington Parker. Bill Clinton sent up Republican-appointed district judges for appeals court vacancies in the late 1990s, and they were quickly confirmed by the Senate....

I didn't know that about either Bush or Clinton!

Mr. Obama has his own skeletons in this regard, most notably in his 'no' vote on the confirmation of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. Though Judge Roberts was broadly accepted by Democrats as possessing the qualifications and temperament to make a fine Justice, Mr. Obama explained that he had decided to oppose the nomination because of concerns over his "political" philosophy. He shouldn't be surprised if the GOP invokes the same standard.