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Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight
This will be interesting. O'Connor was, especially recently, a swing vote on the court. If Bush has any sense of the concept of balance, he will try to find someone similarly moderate and balanced rather than someone who will push Bush's social agendas through. I may not have agreed with many of O'Connor's decissions, but at least she generally proved that she was thinking for herself.
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Were there calls for Clinton to appoint a conservative judge when he picked Ginsberg to replace the conservative leaning Byron White? I don't think so. Should he have to maintain the integrity and balance of the court as it existed? Ginsberg and Byron White have very little in common with the exception of pro-civil rights positions.
I would also argue that Breyer, the other Clinton appointee, who replaced a very libertarian Harry Blackmun, did not necessarily maintain the status quo that was there when he replaced him. I can almost promise that Blackmun would not have ruled in the same way as Breyer on the private property issue.
Presidents are elected. One thing Presidents do is to appoint judges. There is no requirement nor a moral obligation nor precedent that says he should appoint someone with a similar political leaning. Clinton did not, nor should he have been expected to.