Scott points out that we have no reason for thinking he's a moderate. Mark smells a plot to dress him up in a false reputation for moderation and sneak him through the Senate. Julie says that he's a Bush henchman first and anything else second, which I completely agree with, and it's this point that interests me the most. Sure, for the next 3.5 years, he'll do Bush's bidding on the Supreme Court. But he'll be 53 when Bush retires, and being a Supreme Court Justice isn't exactly asbestos removal. What happens to the servant when he spends decades without his master? I have no idea. One can see his slipshod work on Texas death penalty cases not as an expression of any pro-death-penalty principle, but as an attempt to make a politically popular position more comfy for Bush. His work on torture strikes me pretty much the same way.
On a related note -- I suppose it's a sign of good taste that the media doesn't write too much about the age and health status of SCOTUS candidates. These issues are, however, very important, because the number of years you get out of a SCOTUS nominee depends on them.
