Senate Confirms Roberts

No surprise here. Conventional wisdom around Washington has been that Democrats would save their fight for Bush's next nominee, which the New York Times reports may be announced as early as this week.

And a fight is exactly what President Bush should give them, despite the fact that senators like Harry Reid and Patrick Leahy have already puffed their chests in the hopes of intimidating Bush into attempting to evade their threatened filibuster.

Republicans said there appeared to be less possibility that Mr. Bush would select Priscilla R. Owen or Janice Rogers Brown, federal appellate judges appointed by the president. Judges Owen and Brown, strong conservatives, set off bitter confirmation fights in the Senate, and Democrats blocked them for years by filibusters until a compromise on their confirmations was reached this year.

On Wednesday, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, and Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, sent Mr. Bush a letter urging him not to name to the court any of the three judges who were part of the compromise - Judge William J. Pryor Jr. and Judges Owen and Brown.

"The nomination of any of these individuals to the Supreme Court would represent an unnecessary provocation and would be met by substantial opposition in the Senate," the letter said.

The problem is that Senate Democrats are going to give the next Bush nominee to the SCOTUS a rough ride of it, regardless of whoever it might be. The fact that Reid and his band of sniveling ankle-biters have already warned against nominating Pryor, Owen, or Brown should be all the information Bush needs. Now more than ever Bush needs to stand his ground and take the fight to his opposition. He's risked losing his most loyal supporters by failing to veto a single bill during his presidency (not even the pork-filled Transportation Bill) and by throwing a horde of tax dollars at Katrina victims, and just this morning the Washington Times reported that Republicans have rolled over and given Gov. Kathleen Blanco a free pass on Katrina questioning as she appeared before a Senate committee to beg for even more federal subsidies for Louisiana.

Unhinged liberals and opportunistic Democrats are going to attack President Bush indiscriminately on all fronts, no matter what. That he's losing support, however, among die-hard conservatives and Republicans - who've continually given him the benefit of the doubt - should be cause for concern. And his next Supreme Court nominee might just be the last chance the president has to redeem himself in the eyes of increasingly anxious and wavering constituents.

I'm not in the prognostication business, so I'm not going to speculate as to whom Bush might nominate. But considering the recent comments of Reid, et al., he would be wise to nominate anyone from their short list of "unacceptables." My personal favorite is Janice Rogers Brown, who is known to adhere to the letter of the law - credentials despised by the left, but revered by those who are still waiting for Mr. Bush to honor his commitment to nominate a judge to the Supreme Court in the mold of Justices Scalia and Thomas. And yes, failing to do so would simply further alienate those same constituents whose support he desperately needs to regain.

Of course, as Ann Coulter writes today, Bush is no stranger to peculiar judgment, so the next few days should be rather interesting. My only advice is that the president start acting like he won the last election - Democrats be damned - and force his opponents to drag out the cots if those "caring, tolerant, racially-sensitive" Democrats feel like filibustering the first black American woman ever nominated to the Supreme Court of the United States.

UPDATE: John Hinderaker speculates that the timing of the DeLay indictment is directly related to Bush's impending SCOTUS nomination. I agree, and reiterate that Bush must not waver under the pressure that's sure to come, and nominate a judge like Janice Rogers Brown who will make Democrats go ballistic. [h/t: Lorie Byrd.]