"Conservatives should be very pleased with John Roberts' background, record and??¢â???¬ ¦quot;if that's not enough??¢â???¬ ¦quot;the frenzied opposition to him from the left," American Conservative Union Chairman David Keene told Gizzi. "Not only do the liberals not like him, but in their fear that he is very confirmable, Judge Roberts' worst enemies acknowledge his intellect and record of accomplishment."
Keene noted that liberal Democratic Senators Richard Durbin (Ill.) and Charles Schumer (N.Y.) are already going "hammer and tongs" against Roberts and that that will enhance the nominee's support among conservatives. It shows "once again," said Keene, "that the Democratic Party is held hostage by interest groups such as the National Abortion Rights Action League and MoveOn.org." In Roberts' favor, Keene pointed to his past associations with known conservatives: He was the successor to the revered James L. Buckley on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, assistant legal counsel in the Reagan White House and past clerk to Justice William Rehnquist and the late Judge Henry Friendly of New York (a prominent conservative jurist who was frequently on the "short list" for Supreme Court vacancies in the late 1960s and early '70s.)"
