Posted on: Monday, November 17, 2003

EDITORIAL
Judicial nominations: partisan hypocrisy

After 40 hours of marathon speech-making, Senate Republicans should be tired enough of playing political "gotcha" to be willing to explore a truce on judicial nominations with their Democratic counterparts.

The speeches, in which Republicans accused Democrats of imposing an ideological litmus test on President Bush's nominees to the federal bench, amounted to partisan hypocrisy of the first order. Both sides have played this game.

But Democrats have defeated just six of President Bush's nominees, resorting to use of the filibuster in four cases. Meanwhile, they have voted to confirm 168 of his nominees.

Contrast that with the Republican record during the Clinton administration when more than 60 Clinton nominees were left stranded without votes or hearings, including a couple of highly respected nominees affecting Hawai'i.

There are plenty of well-regarded, conservative-to-moderate Republican attorneys and judges who would make uncontroversial candidates for federal judgeships, including many of those who have won confirmation.

The increasing politicization of the judicial nominating process is damaging the Senate and poisoning the federal judiciary. The Republicans are now in the better position to say the game has ended in a draw and call a truce.