Jon Kyl (CJ)
Orrin Hatch
Judd Gregg
Norm Coleman
John Cornyn
Kay Bailey Hutchison
Charles Grassley
George Allen
Mel Martinez
For a moderate like yourself John, I'd have hoped for at least three Democrats
Dave
Yes, but you forget that in addition to being a moderate, I am also a partisan.
If I were to choose a Democrat, Dianne Feinstein and Joe Lieberman would be at the top of the list.
I always considered myself strongly partisan (and I have my GOP/Bush bashing moments) but my Supreme Court's pretty balanced between the two); however, I was asking myself last night that by having such a moderate bias in my original SCOTUS picks was I being intolerant towards liberals and conservatives? I decided I was so I'm amending my picks, significantly:
From the North-East Region: I'd pick Lieberman (D) of Connecticut and Collins (R) of Maine
From the Mid-West Region: I'd pick Feingold (D) of Wisconsin and Lugar (R) of Indiana
From the South: I'd pick Landrieu (D) of Louisiana (though I'd preferably have former Sen. John Breaux) and Graham (R) of South Carolina
From the Central Region: I'd pick Nelson (D) of Nebraska
From the West: I'd pick Wyden (D) of Oregon and Smith (R) of Oregon
5 Democrats/4 Republicans; but Lugar would be Chief Justice and since SCOTUS operates in accordance with majority decision then extremism is highly unlikely
Blue Rectangle, I'm minded to agree with you that justices should come from the judiciary but justices with an overtly activist ideological agenda would not be considered. Ideology is for politicians not justices but since the question related to incumbent Senators, I made my choices accordingly. Though I have somewhat re-addressed my moderate 'bias'
Dave