John Roberts Nominated for Supreme Court

After weeks of intense anticipation, President Bush has nominated John Roberts to be the next Supreme Court Justice. (Who is he? NPR answers best.)

The expectation had been that Bush would nominate a woman (Laura's request) or a Hispanic judge, but instead he went with the well-credentialed, difficult to criticize Roberts, who graduated from Harvard in 3 years, Harvard Law with high honors, and clerked for Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist (yeah, he's smart).

Several analysts called the pick "clever" or "shrewd," expecting the sexy (seemingly) pro-life WASP to give the Democratic opposition fits with his strong resume and short judicial case history. As expected, reactions to his nomination have been varied widely.

*Sandra Day O'Connor: "That's fabulous!"
"He's good in every way, except he's not a woman"

*Pro-Life groups: yeah.
*Pro-Choice groups: nay.

*New York Times: a "modernist" better than Scalia/Thomas.
*Chicago Tribune: prudent.
*CBS: "safe."
*MoveOn.org: "fringe and extreme."
*NPR: "brilliant legal mind" with "unquestioned integrity."

*DNC: diversion from Rovegate (or Plamegate or whatever we're calling the red hot non-scandal of the moment).
*Dean: "impressive legal credentials, but also sharp partisan credentials."
(wait--Bush nominated a Republican?)

Most agree that the confirmation process will end up being a debate on abortion, or more specifically an attempt to figure out just where Roberts stands on the issue. Though the advocacy groups on both sides describe an abortion opponent, Roberts' own comments at his 2003 confirmation hearing leave a very murky picture (relevent excerpts at SF Chronicle).