Democratic Mantra Implodes

It seems to me that the Alito nomination has done in the two main refrains of the recent Democratic mantra: 1) That the Republican nominees are “out of the mainstream”; and 2) That the “nuclear option” — barring filibusters of judicial nominees — was horrible because it would have violated longstanding Senatorial tradition and procedures.

Regarding No. 1, it has become clear either that there is no judicial “mainstream,” but rather separate liberal and conservative streams, or, if there is one, that the Democrats are farther from it than the Republicans.

Regarding No. 2, the longstanding Senatorial tradition called for evaluating judicial nominees on their character, experience, and ability and not on their “philosophy.” The Republicans honored this tradition by voting overwhelmingly for Ginsberg and Breyer, but the Democrats have now totally rejected it and established a new rule: from now on judicial nominees will be judged on purely political grounds.

This bodes well for the party that controls both the White House and the Senate, marginalizes (even more) the party that doesn’t, and on balance is probably bad for the country. There might be a silver lining here if the recognition of this new reality were to lead the Democrats back toward the center, where they would stand a greater chance of winning elections, but at the moment any such silver lining remains thoroughly hidden by the surrounding cloud of rhetoric emanating from the “out of the mainstream” Democratic base and leaders.

UPDATE [2 Feb.]

Both Tony Blankley and Peggy Noonan has also described an implosion. (Thanks to RealClearPolitics).

Say What? (1)

  1. sharon February 1, 2006 at 1:55 pm | | Reply

    Unfortunately, the Democrats have painted themselves into a corner with the “super precedent” type of rhetoric. Being beholden to Roe is going to marginalize them more as most Americans believe in reasonable limits on abortion and are really more interested in other legal issues.

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