Editorial
Clifton's nomination should go by the rules
It appears that Honolulu attorney Richard Clifton has all the legal and intellectual credentials he needs to become a judge on the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
But this appointment could be lost if the Bush administration fails to hold to the political courtesies and safeguards that have long been the standard in Washington. And, based on the comments from senior Hawai'i Sen. Daniel Inouye and others, that seems to be happening.
It is customary in Washington for the senators from a nominee's state to be consulted before the nomination goes up for confirmation. The thinking here is that the home-state senators would presumably be in the best position to know something about the nominee's legal credentials, background and home-state reputation.
In fact, the process is considered so important that Senate tradition allows a single home-state senator to effectively veto a nomination.
This practice, of course, makes room for some fairly crude partisan politics. And it has happened. Nominees have been black-balled simply on the basis of their political leanings, not their qualifications.
Inouye and Sen. Dan Akaka had been backers of Honolulu attorney Jim Duffy, who had been nominated by former President Clinton for this same spot. Duffy's appointment was never acted upon by the former Republican-controlled Senate.
Now comes Clifton, a partisan Republican. He has represented the party in court and has been an active participant in party conventions and other activities.
That hardly disqualifies him for the federal bench. If Inouye or Akaka try to stop the Clifton nomination simply because he is not their guy and is a favorite son of the Hawai'i GOP, they will be playing the same game Republicans used against Democratic nominees.
But as things are shaking out, they don't have to play that game.
By failing to follow the custom of consultation and prior approval, the Bush White House is setting Clifton up for a fall. It gives Hawai'i's senators a straightforward reason to be less than enthusiastic.
The White House says there was consultation, but Inouye insists that this amounted to little more than a pro forma notification, not the thorough kind of consultation that preceded other nominees, Republican and Democrat.
If Clifton is as worthy of the appeals bench as he appears to be, his nomination will have no trouble going through a rigorous review process by Hawai'i's two Democratic senators. Local Republican leaders should urge the White House to play by the rules and then call on Inouye and Akaka to do likewise.
