Edward Whelan, a former law clerk for Justice Antonin Scalia and president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, said he was encouraged by McCain's assertion that the role of judges was "one of the defining issues of this presidential election."
Whelan noted that McCain's promise to nominate judges with a "proven record" would be an important point with conservative Republicans. Some felt betrayed by Bush's nomination of White House Counsel Harriet E. Miers, who was viewed as having no track record, and many have been disappointed by the rulings of Justice David H. Souter.
Introduced at Wake Forest's Wait Chapel by conservative heavyweight Theodore Olson, the former solicitor general, McCain railed against "activist judges" who have ruled on issues "never intended to be heard in courts or decided by judges."
McCain also contrasted his judicial philosophy with that of his Democratic opponents. Though Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama opposed Roberts, McCain criticized the criteria Obama articulated for evaluating judicial nominees as a vague "attempt to justify judicial activism."
McCain clearly was not targeting the independent and conservative Democratic voters he has courted assiduously in recent weeks -- his remarks came on a day when many voters were more focused on the Democratic contests in Indiana and North Carolina.
But within his own party, Curt Levey, the head of the conservative Committee for Justice, predicted the speech would not only resonate with the base but with Republicans "who really did have concerns about the Gang of 14 and whether McCain's support for campaign finance reform might influence who he chose."
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maeve.reston@latimes.com
Staff writer David G. Savage contributed to this report.
