# Fate of Obama's Judicial Appointments... **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 12, 2008, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fate-of-obamas-judicial-appointments/472412 "2008-11-12T20:46:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fate-of-obamas-judicial-appointments/472412/21 "2008-12-03T20:08:01Z")
At the Supreme Court level, with the attendant publicity, the only judicial candidates that would cause a successful filibuster would be an extreme ideological liberal, essentially the anti-Bork, or someone notably underqualified like Harriet Meyers. Given the type of appointments he has already made, and his apparently cool, cautious nature, I think that the chance of Obama making such a pick for a Supreme Court Justice is negligible at best. He’s going to be personally selecting any Supreme Court nominee, and he’s not stupid enough to pick someone that will draw that kind of fire. Given any sort of reasonable candidate, Republican Senators, particularly those from swing states, are not going to want to have this the point on which they make their stand. For the lower courts, though, there will be a few that the right wing will target. Most likely, they’ll be candidates with something on the record that pings one of the wedge issues like gun control or abortion. What will probably happen is those candidates will get hung up in committee until one side or the other decides it is the politically right time for the big, noisy fight, at which time most of them will get through but just a few will be picked off, leaving each side a partial victory to bring home. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fate-of-obamas-judicial-appointments/472412/22 "2008-12-03T21:17:32Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > There was no filibuster attempt for Roberts and such an effort for Alito was not successful even though the Democrats had 49 Senators (plus two independents). Those two were nominated before the '06 elections, when the Democrats held only forty-five seats in the Senate. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fate-of-obamas-judicial-appointments/472412/23 "2008-12-03T21:31:54Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Or it says something about the makeup of the Senate when the nomination was made. 😕 Eh?! Even with a Dem Senate, a Pub POTUS’ SCOTUS nominee generally had to be a positive Bork to get rejected. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fate-of-obamas-judicial-appointments/472412/24 "2008-12-04T04:18:37Z")
Obama is going to appoint Bill Ayers to the Supreme Court!!! Or is it Secretary of State? I keep getting my Rush Limbaugh talking points confused. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fate-of-obamas-judicial-appointments/472412/25 "2008-12-04T07:24:28Z")
Nah, Obama’s not going to appoint Ayers to anything. Blagovitch is, to fill Obama’s Senate seat. Then Ayers is going to get named President Pro Tem of the Senate, and Obama’s going to assassinate Biden and Pelosi and retire, making the evil liberal terrorist the President of the United States. ---
**Author:** ![Plan\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Plan\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plan_B)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fate-of-obamas-judicial-appointments/472412/26 "2008-12-06T00:49:54Z")
oops ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fate-of-obamas-judicial-appointments/472412/27 "2008-12-06T05:45:23Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Balance or no balance, Obama is likely to appoint left-leaning judges. That’s a given. Since there are going to be something like 42 Republicans in the Senate and the GOP seems to be licking its wounds at the moment, the odds of a filibuster aren’t that good. Half the Democrats voted for Roberts. Only a few (four) broke off to vote for Alito. There was no filibuster attempt for Roberts and such an effort for Alito was not successful even though the Democrats had 49 Senators (plus two independents). Miers was opposed successfully, but pretty much everyone agreed she was unqualified. So unless Obama nominates somebody who is seen as extremely liberal or unqualified, I’m not seeing that much risk for a filibuster. Well Miers was a pretty crafty bait and switch. There is no way that they actually intended for her to get in. They just wanted to tire everyone out with a media circus and then slip in their real choice, Alito. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fate-of-obamas-judicial-appointments/472412/28 "2008-12-06T05:46:33Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Well Miers was a pretty crafty bait and switch. There is no way that they actually intended for her to get in. They just wanted to tire everyone out with a media circus and then slip in their real choice, Alito. I don’t think that’s credible at all. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fate-of-obamas-judicial-appointments/472412/29 "2008-12-08T21:08:27Z")
The ideological/partisan makeup of the federal bench apparently is a thornier problem now than it ever has been before, going by [this](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/07/AR2008120702703.html?hpid=topnews) article in today’s _Washington Post._ ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fate-of-obamas-judicial-appointments/472412/30 "2008-12-08T21:41:22Z")
That’s horrible reporting from the WaPo. Talking about “Democrats” gaining a majority on particular circuits? Federal Judges aren’t Democrat or Republican… ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fate-of-obamas-judicial-appointments/472412/31 "2008-12-08T22:13:08Z")
> [@villa](#): > > That’s horrible reporting from the WaPo. Talking about “Democrats” gaining a majority on particular circuits? Federal Judges aren’t Democrat or Republican… Yes they fucking **are,** and all pretense to the contrary is bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fate-of-obamas-judicial-appointments/472412/32 "2008-12-08T22:15:44Z")
No they fucking aren’t, and all pretense to the contrary is well, just pretense. Take Scalia, for example. I oppose his judicial philosophy; I oppose his opinions most of the time. But he does many things that drive Republicans crazy. I’d take Conservative and Liberal as labels. But Democrat and Republican is just plain wrong. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fate-of-obamas-judicial-appointments/472412/33 "2008-12-08T22:20:32Z")
> [@villa](#): > > No they fucking aren’t, and all pretense to the contrary is well, just pretense. Take Scalia, for example. I oppose his judicial philosophy; I oppose his opinions most of the time. But he does many things that drive Republicans crazy. I’d take Conservative and Liberal as labels. But Democrat and Republican is just plain wrong. Some Republicans are more liberal than others. Nevertheless, almost all judges **have** a **partisan** (as distinct from ideological) identification before they are nominated, and they do not drop it when they put on their robes. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fate-of-obamas-judicial-appointments/472412/34 "2008-12-08T22:23:49Z")
Of course they have a personal, partisan affiliation. But that isn’t the way it is being referred to here. The bottom line is that there simply isn’t a Democrat or Republican answer to cases much of the time. An implication that either party has a coherent judicial theory implies not only too great cohesiveness on the part of the parties, but also far to great a level of intelligence and understanding for the political system. ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fate-of-obamas-judicial-appointments/472412/35 "2008-12-09T02:58:22Z")
**IClaudius’s** post in #9 nails it, to me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fate-of-obamas-judicial-appointments/472412.md?page=1)