ConfirmThem

Quin, although Puryear and Honaker are most definitely being blocked as is Rogan of California, what can be done to stop it? With the Dems in control of the Senate, the Republicans will have to choose their battles carefully. I fear the Dems would refuse to confirm Keisler and Conrad if they confirmed Honaker and Puryear first. They would say that they have already been "reasonable" in judicial confirmations, and that the Republicans are asking for too much. I don't want to give them that ammunition. No, I think we should concentrate on Keisler and Conrad BEFORE Honaker and Puryear.

Courtesy of How Appealing,

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking_news/story/492644.html

"Raoul Cantero III, the first Cuban-American justice of the Florida Supreme Court, announced his resignation Friday, saying his daughter's recent illness helped persuade him and his family to move closer to their relatives back home in Miami.

'It's very difficult,'' Cantero, 47, said of leaving the seven-member court. ``It's not a decision I made lightly.'"

http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080412/CAPITOLNE...

"Cantero, appointed in 2002 by then-Gov. Jeb Bush, says he wants to return with his family to Miami where he will enter private practice."

I'm very sorry to hear about his daughter's illness. I hope she recovers quickly, he makes a nice little bundle in private practice for a little while, and then President McCain can nominate him to the next SCOTUS vacancy.

I've always thought Cantero would be a stellar pick for the 11th Circuit, should a Florida seat come open. I'm not so sure about SCOTUS. Individuals who have had their idealogy tested through executive branch service have proved to be much more consistent conservatives (see Roberts, Alito and Scalia in particular; constrasting with Kennedy, O'Conner and Souter). Cantero might be great coming from a state court (he certainly seems conservative), but I'd rather not have to deal with the uncertainty. Also, from a public relations perspective, he has a couple not inconsiderable knocks. First, he is the grandson of the former dictator of Cuba. It's not his fault, but it's also not helpful. Second, he represented an accused anti-Castro terrorist (I believe he blew up an airline - most folks tend to frown on that sort of thing these days). The Dems would love to criticize a nominee in a way that made them sound strong on defense, and this would give them that chance. One more thing, to the extent Cantero is viewed as a strong nominee because of the "diversity" aspect, you have to think carefully about what you are trying to accomplish here. Cantero is Cuban, so that gets you points with Cubans (with whom the GOP is already strong), but I suspect doesn't move the needle much with Americans of Mexican ancestry (or those from various Central American countries). Estrada gets you further on that front. In conclusion, I hear very nice things about that Paul Clement fellow.

Despite the recommendations of Bobo and some others to concentrate on the Conrad 4th Circuit nomination, it is my belief that this nomination is all but doomed. The recent public opposition to Conrad by pro-abortion special interest groups makes an already unlikely confirmation virtually impossible.

I never had much hope for Conrad's confirmation. Why, pray tell, after SEVEN years of expert obstruction to keep this controversial North Carolina seat open, would Dem-Libs suddenly surrender now with only 3 months left before invoking the "Thurmond Rule" and running out the clock in Bush's final year?

The better strategy would be to nominate someone from the Warner-Webb list to the Widener's Virginia seat tomorrow (if it's not too late already), and concentrate on that confirmation after Pratter and Agee.

In my previous post (#5), I did not mean in any way to imply that Republicans should not concentrate on confirming Keisler as well, although his confirmation seems unlikely this year. If he is is somehow confirmed, it will probably be the result of some unfathomable backroom Senate deal, and definitely without another hearing.

If Keisler is not confirmed, President McCain (if elected) should renominate him immediately after taking office. This goes for Conrad, Kethledge and Matthews as well. He should also make nominations to 3-4 other CCA judgeships within a month after his inauguration. No waiting until May 9th this time. The clock will already be ticking.

While Puryear seems well qualified and deserving of confirmation, making a serious fight over a District nominee would be a serious tactical error at this point. This smells like a Democrat trap for unwary Republicans: embroil the Judiciary Committee in a drawn-out battle over a District Court nominee, thereby further delaying more crucial Circuit nominee hearings and wasting much of the precious little time remaining. And Puryear could well go down anyway in the end.

The strategic course is to focus all-out on the Circuit nominees, then elect McCain and let him renominate Puryear (and others) next year, when the political winds are are less volatile.

I completely agree. The Dems would love nothing more than to embroil the Senate in a fight over District Court nominees, who they would ultimately confirm after a drawn out fight and then say "Look, we capitulated on these controversial nominees. We're acting in good faith. No more controversial nominees, particularly those COA ones."

No. Sorry Puryear and Honaker, but the focus must be on Keisler, Conrad, Mathews, Pratter, Agee, and perhaps another VA Warner-Webb nominee. Maybe even Kethledge and Murphy if a deal is worked out with the Michigan Senators (unlikely).