# Is Sandra Day O'Connor having second thoughts?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sandra-day-oconnor-having-second-thoughts/219600>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [December 17, 2003, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sandra-day-oconnor-having-second-thoughts/219600 "2003-12-17T20:01:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sandra-day-oconnor-having-second-thoughts/219600/21 "2003-12-19T03:07:14Z")

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Okay, fair enough, **Bryan Ekers**. Although one wonders why she’s secretly hoping to be replaced by a _more_ politically conservative justice instead of, like, voting more politically conservative herself.  
**RexDart** : Don’t you have anything better to do than hijack threads with content-free, partisan assaults on other justices?

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**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sandra-day-oconnor-having-second-thoughts/219600/22 "2003-12-19T04:05:43Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by minty green \*  
> Okay, fair enough, **Bryan Ekers**. Although one wonders why she’s secretly hoping to be replaced by a _more_ politically conservative justice instead of, like, voting more politically conservative herself.

Hell, I dunno. Maybe she really really _really_ hates Breyer, Stevens and Ginsburg and thinks Souter is a schmuck. And while O’Conner has a relatively gentle conservative touch, I expect she’d hate to be replaced by some third-choice compromise appointment Bush might be forced into because he couldn’t get someone with teeth past Congress.

Personally, I think the reason the TV show _First Monday_ tanked, because it portrayed a fictional SCOTUS in which everybody respected each other. Blech. Saccharine crap.

Then again, maybe she dislikes the Patriot Act and is waiting for the first challenge after Iraq settles down so she can vote against it.

Or maybe she likes wearing black. It’s so slimming.

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**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sandra-day-oconnor-having-second-thoughts/219600/23 "2003-12-19T04:14:12Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by CyberPundit \*  
> \*\*Considering that O’Connor is one of the most powerful people in the US it’s not hard to see why she might want to stick on. You could even make the case that she is the most powerful person in the US; unlike Bush she doesn’t have to worry about re-election prospects, Congress and large bureaucracies with their own agenda.
> 
> Not to menion the prospect of making history and becoming the first female Chief Justice. \*\*

Very good points. It’s easy to get caught up in speculation about backroom partisan maneuvering and forget all about personal ambition. And you don’t get to be on the SC w/o being an ambitious person.

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