VOLuntarilyConservative

For those readers who are only now starting to familiarize themselves with the short list of President Bush's possible nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court, this article in Thursday's Wall Street Journal is a fantastic start. I have been studying potential judges since President Bush was first elected in 2000, and the WSJ article is a great introduction to the field. It is a bit light on recent objections to Judge McConnell (which surfaced nearly two weeks ago). My preferences haven't changed much lately. In order, they are:

1) Judge Michael Luttig (4th Circuit)
2) Judge Samuel Alito (3rd Circuit)
3) Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson (4th Circuit)

This excellent article - one of the first to talk to actual people inside the Bush White House - in Thursday's Chicago Tribune declared that I should be happy with how the selection process is progressing, with Luttig and Alito being recently interviewed. (Hat tip and discussion: The Supreme Court Nomination Blog.) As I mentioned earlier today, I cannot support Alberto Gonzales. The strike against Wilkinson is his age (61), a decade older than Luttig. Judge Roberts has a nearly invisible paper trail - much like Justice Souter before he was nominated. While that might help him in the confirmation process, I would hope that conservatives have learned their lesson from the disaster that was Justice Souter's nomination. Judge McConnell looks equally as unreliable on key issues. In any case, the Tribune report was good news, indeed.