SOUTH DAKOTA STRAIGHT TALK

What Will Senators Johnson and Thune Do?

Everyone is expecting a Supreme Court vacancy soon. The speculation is that Chief Justice Rehnquist will step down, but resignations could also come from Justice Sandra Day O’Connor or Justice John Paul Stevens. Court vacancies always make for great theatre and speculation.

The wise should remember judicial appointments are lifetime appointments and that means for life.

If a vacancy does occur, as divided and polarized as the country is, Expect a fight!

The Elections are over – In the 2004 election George Bush won the Presidency 286 to 252 in the Electoral College and by more than three million votes in the popular vote over John Kerry. In South Dakota George Bush won the popular vote by 60 percent to 39. Republicans also gained seats in the U S Senate and now have a 55 to 44 seat majority. The U S House of Representatives (the people’s house) also has a Republican majority of 231 Republicans to 202 Democrats.

The American people had an election and they picked the President who is solely empowered to nominate the next member should there be vacancies. Why doesn’t the minority party whom over and over claim to be the party of the people acknowledge that they lost?

What will South Dakota’s Senators do? – John Thune in his campaign made an issue that we need someone who will go to Washington and support the President, someone who will try to work in a bi-partisan way to stop the obstructionism in Washington and someone who believes in conservative principles. You can count on John to support the one elected official in our entire Republic who was voted on by everyone.

Tim Johnson will straddle the issue. Senator Johnson needs to tell South Dakotans how he defines the mainstream of political thought. He needs to tell us before a presidential nomination what his criteria are and what characteristics and abilities he looks for in a Supreme Court nominee. Which are acceptable and which are not acceptable. If he opposes the President’s selection he should forthrightly and promptly tell us why he opposes the will of South Dakota voters who just a few months ago said we trust George W Bush to make that selection.

During the recent debate on judicial nominations to the appellate courts Senator Johnson said that he could not support candidates that were not in “mainstream of conservative thought.” Senator Johnson, how do you define the mainstream? Tell us.