This May Be True

When John McCain brokered a bipartisan compromise among seven Republican and seven Democratic senators to avoid a showdown over the filibustering of judicial nominees, conservatives flamed him. [snip]
The deal cleared the way for the relatively easy confirmation of John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. Roberts wasn’t filibustered and the Democrats could only scare up 25 votes to filibuster Alito.

There was another benefit to the “Gang of 14” deal that I didn’t anticipate. By making conservatism itself not a disqualifying condition and giving some degree of Democratic acquiescence, the deal gave pro-choice Republicans more political cover to support clearly pro-life nominees. In Alito’s case, that proved important in getting the votes for his confirmation. Only one pro-choice Republican ended up voting against him.

In reality, McCain’s compromise provided a smoother and surer route to the confirmation of conservative judges than the showdown his critics preferred. A more conservative judiciary may well prove to be the most important conservative accomplishment in the post-Reagan era. President Bush deserves the lion’s share of the credit, since he’s the one making the nominations. But McCain’s much disparaged deal paved the way.

Conservatives owe him an apology.