By Jim Brown
OneNewsNow
President Obama is bringing both hope and change to his position on the filibustering of judicial nominees.
President Obama is expressing hope that his first Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor, will not be blocked by Senate Republicans. However, while a U.S. senator in 2006, Obama — along with 24 colleagues — unsuccessfully attempted to filibuster the nomination of Justice Samuel Alito, who had been nominated by George W. Bush.
Gary Marx, executive director of The Judicial Confirmation Network, says President Obama is playing with two different sets of standards for judicial nominees.
Gary Marx (The Judicial Confirmation Network)”He followed the radical left-wing in opposing Justice Alito for no other reason than he disagreed with his judicial philosophy — one of judicial restraint,” Marx explains. “President Obama wanted a judicial activist on the Supreme Court, and Justice Alito did not fit that mold.
“Our hope is that none of the senators are going to follow President Obama’s example with these dilatory-type of tactics,” he continues. “We want them to have a full and fair debate, an extensive debate.”
Marx says his group wants to see a “full and fair” vote on Sotomayor so all U.S. senators can be on the record and held accountable for their position on the nomination when the 2010 or 2012 elections roll around.