Frist expects partisan battle over court vacancy

“I predict it will be more partisan,” Frist told the Chattanooga Times Free Press. “The Democrats will be itching for a fight no matter who the nomination is.”

Democrats want the conservative president to nominate a moderate to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

Frist said he would like to see the confirmation hearings for the next nominee be as civil as those held for Roberts. But he said he expects partisan behavior will be a prominent feature of hearings for Bush’s next nominee.

“A large part of it will be politics,” Frist said.

Vanderbilt political science professor Bruce Oppenheimer said the Democrats’ strategy of allowing Bush an easy time of replacing conservative Chief Justice William Rehnquist with conservative Roberts allows them to deflect criticism if they oppose the next nominee.

“It says they are not just opposing for opposing’s sake,” Oppenheimer said.

Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political science professor said Bush cannot afford to nominate a moderate to the court, because it would cost him support from his conservative political base.

“He will nominate a solid conservative,” Sabato said. “If he doesn’t, he will pay an enormous price. Without the support of his conservative base, his approval rating falls into the 20s and 30s.”

Robert Swansbrough, a political science professor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, said Democrats will fight any Bush nominee they judge to be more conservative than O’Connor.

“I think the possibility of a filibuster is very real because you are talking about the direction of the court for the next 20 years,” he said.

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said Bush would do well to find a nominee very much like Roberts.

“If you hit a home run in your first at bat, during your next at bat you would try to remember what you did right the first time and do it again,” Alexander said.

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Information from: Chattanooga Times Free Press, http://www.timesfreepress.com