From the WSJ Opinion Archives
THE NEXT JUSTICE
Introducing John Roberts
A great conservative sigh of relief.
Editor's note: Manuel Miranda joins OpinionJournal's roster of columnists today to report on the confirmation of John Roberts to the Supreme Court. His column will appear on Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays for now and more frequently once confirmation hearings begin or as news requires. Readers of OpinionJournal will remember Manny from last year's Memogate scandal. He's a former counsel to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and, before that, senior counsel to Orrin Hatch when the Senator was chairman of the Judiciary Committee. He is founder and chairman of the Third Branch Conference, an ad hoc coalition set up to educate leaders of grassroots conservative organizations on judicial issues and coordinate action strategy. He has received funding from a private philanthropist and applied for a grant from a pro-life educational foundation.
Last night George Bush kept his campaign promise that he would name a justice in the mold of Antonin Scalia or Clarence Thomas. And I for one am ashamed that I ever doubted him. I should have understood the president better. In John Roberts, the president got what he wanted, and we conservatives did too.
But what a day! From the earliest moments on Tuesday, the Capital's rumor mill predicted with increasing "certainty" that the nominee was Edith Brown Clement of Louisiana, whom President Bush elevated four years ago to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
As sound a judge as she might be, she isn't in the Scalia-Thomas mold and conservatives around the country picked up the phone and got on email to ask, why her? The choice of Judge Clement seemed odd. She would have satisfied no aspect of the GOP base. It seemed for a moment that the White House had opted to take the easy path. And, for a while, it looked as if conservatives had lost the battle to persuade the White House to name a nominee with a clear conservative record.
But then, around 5 p.m., the rumor tide shifted. Word spread that it would not be Judge Clement, that it would be neither a woman nor an Hispanic. A few hours before the president made his prime time announcement of Judge Roberts, the news broke, and was met with relief. Not only because it was Roberts, but because it was over.
Neither the Washington press corps nor the activists on either side of the great divide could have taken much more. Another rumor might have caused a riot.
But for many the day only began anew after the president's announcement. The telephone companies made a profit last night on conference calls to "introduce" John Roberts to the conservative base. Questions were blunt: "Tell me if this guy is one of us," demanded one skeptic. "Is he solid?" asked another. But it was not a hard sell. Conservatives around the country went to sleep happy.
Mr. Miranda, former counsel to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, is founder and chairman of the Third Branch Conference, a coalition of grassroots organizations following judicial issues. His column appears on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
