Specter to Obama: Renominate Bush Judge Picks

clipped from www.committeeforjustice.com Congratulations on your inauguration. Throughout your campaign, you promised change and pledged to strive for bipartisanship in your administration, and you underscored this commitment to bipartisanship in your inaugural address. I write to respectfully suggest that, as a sign of bipartisanship, you renominate some of President George W. Bush’s circuit court nominees who were not confirmed prior to the adjournment of the 110th Congress. To do so would echo the bipartisanship President Bush demonstrated when he renominated one of President Clinton’s judicial nominees, Judge Roger Gregory, to a vacancy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

That's a snippet from a letter from Sen. Arlen Specter to President Obama. He goes on to make a few suggestions for renomination.

From Right Wing Watch, blogger Kyle gives us this bit of analysis:

It was just the other day that I noted that many of these activists were lying in wait and saving their ammunition for anticipated court battles so it is probably safe that assume that if President Obama declines to acquiesce to their request, they'll immediately use it as a justification for obstructing his judicial nominees.

Of course, as demonstrated by his recent efforts to work with Republicans to pass the stimulus bill only to watch them unanimously vote against it, Obama probably doesn't have much to gain by trying to reach out to them since they'll inevitably just find some other excuse to justify their obstruction, regardless of what he does.

Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't.