the judges that Reagan and Bush1 appointed were much more liberal than the ones that Bush2 is appointing (partly because the establishmentarian political consensus has shifted so far to the right). This can be seen by the fact that the DeLays of the world are railing against judges who were appointed by GOPsters. Jim Devine <<<<<>>>>>
of course, scalia was reagan appt. that dems didn't block, reagan, some might say that times were different, congressional climate was not as sulforous then, that dem minority was not yet 'pushed' to filibuster such rabid appointee, true to some extent, but these views grant dems too much...
reagan also elevated rehnquist to chief justice, big battle re. supreme court will probably not be over rehnquist replacement - even if one of 2 hard-core right wingers -scalia and thomas appointed chief justice - in which conservative fills slot occupied by conservative (although some court watchers maintain that rehnquist is not 'ideological' in way that scalia is) and so configuration of court doesn't change, i guess attack dog scalia would try to effect change if he were chief justice but hard-core right-wing faction would remain troika...
o'connor retirement, however, could likely be different, certainly she's conservative (another reagan appointee), but she's also swing vote in rulings more often than any other justice, hard-core right-winger (anti-abortion rights might be litmus test of sorts for dems) would change court dynamics... michael hoover
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