McCain’s Role in Judicial Filibuster Vote Cost Him Some Support
In 2005, Sen. John McCain helped pave the way for confirmation of two U.S. Supreme Court justices and other conservative judges by helping stop a vote on whether to ban filibusters of judicial nominees.
That action has led some high-profile conservatives to oppose McCain’s presidential bid, the New York Times reports. They believe the Republican party was close to winning a vote that would have stopped the use of filibusters that were holding up confirmations.
They fear the incident foreshadows the possibility that McCain will be willing to compromise on his judicial nominees. They say the presidential contender could shore up his conservative support by making clear he will nominate only conservatives.
Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention told the Times that McCain needs to emphasize he won’t be appointing stealth nominees with unproven records to the bench. “He needs to do some formulation of ‘No more Souters,’ ” Land said, referring to the appointment of Justice David H. Souter, who became part of the court’s liberal wing, by the first President Bush.
