Among the true believers on the Republican right and the Democratic left there is nothing more loathsome and treacherous than a moderate. And you never know where one is lurking. Why, it's gotten to the point that Republican presidents can't be trusted to come up with hardened conservatives for Supreme Court vacancies.
When the first President Bush nominated David Souter to the U.S. Supreme Court, conservatives were jubilant. The White House put out the word that Souter would be a reliable ally for their causes. The opposition, led by feminists and abortion rights groups, papered Washington sidewalks with hysterical fliers warning, "If Souter is confirmed, women will die."
Well, Souter was confirmed and women are still having abortions. To the dismay of Republicans, Souter soon emerged as a leader of the court's liberal minority. "No More Souters" is the rallying cry of conservatives demanding that President Bush nominate the real thing to the next Supreme Court vacancy.
After the court handed down decisions last week on controversial social issues, you can bet conservatives will be chanting "No More Souters or O'Connors." Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who was nominated to the court by Ronald Reagan, is the swing justice in many of the controversial cases that come before the court, and some of her latest swings have infuriated conservatives in the thick of the nation's cultural wars.
The same court that liberal Democrats excoriated for resolving the 2000 Florida vote recount in George W. Bush's favor is now being praised by Democratic interest groups for its rulings on affirmative action and gay rights. The court upheld the use of racial preferences in college admissions and gave gays and lesbians a historic victory by striking down a Texas antisodomy law.
The Rev. Jerry Falwell told the New York Times that "this probably is as bad a day as the court has had on social issues since Roe vs. Wade," the 1973 ruling that found a constitutional right to abortion. After these constitutional setbacks, the furious Republican right is in no mood to accept a mainstream nominee for the court's next vacancy. It's going to be a nasty fight on both sides when it comes, with nominees being Borked and Soutered.
In Florida, meanwhile, some of us are trying to figure out what to make of Charlie Crist, the state's first Republican attorney general and the biggest surprise Tallahassee has seen in a long time. Charlie Crist is no David Souter, not by any measure, but neither is he a Johnnie Byrd, the ideologically rigid Florida House speaker.
Crist was elected over the editorial opposition of every major newspaper in the state, including this one. We editorial writers said some pretty harsh things about Crist. We said Charlie is a nice guy but dismissed him as a light suit who lacked the qualifications to be attorney general. After all, didn't it take Crist three tries before he passed the state bar exam, a test his Democratic opponent Buddy Dyer aced on his first try? As a state senator, Crist championed chain gangs and complained that prison inmates were enjoying too many amenities. Later as state education commissioner, he appeared more interested in using that office as a political platform than in improving education.
So with a political rap sheet like that, we figured we had Crist pegged and offered the voters our assessment. Crist won the election and, to the surprise of many of his old critics, he has emerged as one of the few bright spots in the Republican rule in Tallahassee. Though a conservative on most issues, Crist seems to lack the ideological edge or moral fervor we see from Gov. Jeb Bush and Johnnie Byrd. After six months in office, Crist probably has drawn more criticism from Republican interest groups than he has from Democratic interest groups. There is little to criticize and much to praise in his record so far, and if he stays the course, his political image could be transformed.
When Crist succeeded the popular Bob Butterworth, a Democrat, there was no partisan housecleaning. In fact, he kept Butterworth people in key positions, including civil rights. In one of his first opinions, he held the Legislature to the letter and the spirit of a new constitutional amendment requiring a two-thirds vote to create an exemption in the state's open records law. Over the opposition of some religious conservatives, he pushed a civil rights law through the Legislature that for the first time gives the attorney general the authority to go after businesses that discriminate against minorities.
He may not be on the side of the angels, but in his first six months Crist appears to be on the side of consumers and environmentalists and minorities. It's still early, and bigger tests lie ahead. But for what he has done so far, General Crist deserves a pat on the back.
