Santorum frowns on presidential Supreme Court nomination of Harriet Miers

Santorum frowns on presidential Supreme Court nomination of Harriet Miers

Says Bush's nominee for nation's highest court lacks distinguished legal track record

Saturday, October 15, 2005

By James O'Toole, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Joining a swelling chorus of conservative unrest, U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., has expressed disappointment with the Supreme Court nomination of Harriet Miers.

During an appearance in mid-state Pennsylvania Thursday, Mr. Santorum, normally one of President Bush's most reliable Senate allies, also said that he had not made up his mind on a confirmation vote for the president's controversial nominee.

"I don't know yet,'' Mr. Santorum said when asked about his confirmation decision in an interview reported by the Chambersburg Public Opinion. "But I am concerned President Bush nominated someone who is a blank slate. I'm disappointed that he wanted to nominate someone like that instead of someone with a record.''

Mr. Santorum's comments came against a backdrop of growing GOP fissures over President Bush's nominee, with a line of prominent conservatives calling for the withdrawal of Ms. Mier's name in favor of a nominee with a more distinguished and discernible legal track record.

At a White House briefing yesterday, Scott McClellan, Mr. Bush's spokesman, dismissed the calls for Ms. Miers' withdrawal.

"No one that knows her record and her qualifications would make such a suggestion,'' he said.

The nominating process presents a particular dilemma for Mr. Santorum, who faces what promises to be a tough re-election battle next year. To prevail against a challenge from the anticipated Democratic standard bearer, Treasurer Bob Casey Jr., Santorum wants the united support of the conservative base that was crucial to his two previous statewide victories.

The Supreme Court decision follows a 2004 election season in which Santorum alienated some Pennsylvania conservatives with his ardent and effective support of his moderate colleague, Sen Arlen Specter, against a primary challenge from former Rep. Pat Toomey. Mr. Toomey's strong support from conservatives propelled him to a surprisingly strong showing that fell just short of wresting the Senate nomination from Mr. Specter.

One of the conservative fears about Mr. Specter, in the primary and in a subsequent Senate fight on whether he would chair the Judiciary Committee, was that he might fail to support President Bush's high court nominees. The conservative movement stalwarts, who bristled at Mr. Santorum's support of his senior colleague, hadn't anticipated that they would be the ones attempting to block a Bush nominee.

Mr. Specter, who will chair Ms. Mier's confirmation hearings, has maintained his own neutrality on the pick but has spoken out against what he characterized as an unfair pummeling of the nominee.

Robert Traynham, Mr. Santorum's press secretary, said that the senator would make his decision after evaluating Ms. Miers' testimony at her confirmation hearings.

---------------------------------- (Post-Gazette politics editor James O'Toole can be reached at jotoole@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1562.)

Source: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05288/589156.stm

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