So Justice Sandra Day O’Connor has retired. If Bush’s past is an indication, he will nominate a hard core idealogue to replace the moderate O’Conner. Bush will relish a huge bloody political fight.

Let’s contrast Bush and Clinton:

DailyKOS has a diary about the Orrin Hatch autobiography section regarding Bill Clinton’s Supreme Court nominees.

In 1993, Clinton enjoyed control of both houses of Congress, as the Republicans do today.

When Justice White retired, Clinton consulted the opposition, Senator Orrin Hatch, and took his advice on nominees. Hatch recounts the story in his book, discussed on KOS and excerpted below.

Daily Kos: SCOTUS: Advice & Consent
I told him [Clinton] that confirmation would not be easy. At least one Democrat would probably vote against Bruce, and there would be a great deal of resistance from the Republican side. I explained to the President that although he might prevail in the end, he should consider whether he wanted a tough, political battle over his first appointment to the Court.

Our conversation moved to other potential candidates. I asked whether he had considered Judge Stephen Breyer of the First Circuit Court of Appeals or Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. President Clinton indicated he had heard Breyer’s name but had not thought about Judge Ginsberg.