Mark Warner is a “Yes” vote for Elena Kagan
By Ward Smythe | Friday, July 30th, 2010 | Policy
Not that anyone is surprised.
In a statement released today, Warner said:
“Elena Kagan has been a trailblazer. I believe her life story and academic and legal experience will provide an important perspective to the deliberations and decisions of the Court.’
Does this put Warner even more out of touch with the electorate he promised to serve from “The Sensible Center?”
In 2005, Warner wrote “…in the heartland, in states like Virginia, folks are looking for something else, something I call the sensible center. The sensible center is wide open for any Democrat who can credibly make the case.”
I’m not sure that Virginia could ever be considered “the heartland.” Maybe, like Tim Kaine thinking that Virginia borders Delaware, Warner gets a little mixed up in his geography.
But back to the original point. Can a vote for Elena Kagan be considered a vote from the “Sensible Center?”
The Washington Times writes that “As a Supreme Court law clerk, Ms. Kagan wrote that she was “not sympathetic” toward protecting Second Amendment rights. She was also instrumental in developing President Clinton’s gun-control regulations during the 1990s.”
Writing in National Review Online, Senator Tom Coburn said, “In her testimony, it was clear that Kagan subscribes to the progressive view that the wrongly decided precedents of the Supreme Court are more important the clear intent of the Constitution.”
Former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop wrote in a letter to the members of the Senate that Kagan “manipulated the medical policy statement on partial-birth abortion of a major medical organization.” He continued, “In my many decades of service as a medical doctor, I have never known of a case where partial-birth abortion was necessary in place of a more humane and ethical alternative. I urge the Senate to reject the politicization of medical science and vote no on the Kagan nomination.”
Granted those are largely conservative voices of opposition. But who can rationally argue that they’re not sensible?
Kagan’s confirmation is all but certain. But in casting a yes vote, is Warner really serving the people of the Commonwealth from the “sensible center?”
As of this writing, Virginia’s other Senator Jim Webb has not indicated how he will vote on the Kagan nomination.
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Ward Smythe is a pseudonymous aspiring freelance writer from Central Virginia. Until late 2007 Ward blogged at the now defunct "Ward View" and was active in Virginia and national politics. Ward's signature style of snarkery gained him a unique following that he hopes to regain here at Bearing Drift. Ward uses humor, satire and sometimes photoshop to make his point. Ward is proud to be an equal opportunity offender.
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11 Responses to "Mark Warner is a “Yes” vote for Elena Kagan"
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Do you remember the name Harriet Miers? This extremely conservative nominee by George Dubyah Bush wasn’t conservative enough and the nomination was withdrawn. Now, righting the scales of justice, just what is wrong with the Kagan nomination?
Perhaps you would be happy if President Obama had nominated Harriet this time around? She wasn’t good enough for you then but now? Why do you object to extremism from the other side when extremism is your favorite club out of the golf bag?
Lil’ Dave, I’ll wait right here whilst you go find anywhere that I ever even commented regarding Harriet Miers.
But I just don’t get your logic behind your assertion that the withdrawal of someone with (in your opinion) extreme conservative views, is somehow balanced by the nomination of an extreme leftist.
Maybe you need to wear a hat when you’re golfing.
I have only golfed one time, and that was enough to prove to me I’m no good at it. It was bright and sunny that day down in Puerto Rico, and no I didn’t wear a hat.
You didn’t mention Harriet, but I thought it was worth bringing her nomination up. When Republicans were doing the nominating, some thought Harriet was too close to being a centrist so she was forced to withdraw (and she was no moderate). Now do you get my point?
I imagine the point will go whizzing right over your head again. As they say in golf, Fore!
There were more problems with Harriet Miers than those who thought she was not conservative enough. There were significant questions about her judicial experience and philosophy. And the White House refused to release documents requested by the Senate.
Your point only has merit if you were indeed arguing that Miers should be confirmed as you imply that I should for Kagan.
But maybe you just don’t get politics and think I shouldn’t be allowed to voice an opinion just because you don’t agree with it.
Otherwise, next time a Republican gets to nominate a Supreme, I’ll be looking for you to be the first to jump on the bandwagon.
Yes you should get to voice your opinion, and I think you got an opportunity to do so up in the headlines of this thread.
Let me attempt to clarify my point. You seem to be OK with Republicans nominating people like Roberts and Alito but when a Democrat does the nominating you expect a rush to the center. I think you have unreasonable expectations.
Oh, I don’t expect any democrat to rush to the center. But I’d at least appreciate someone who has a better grasp on the Constitution.
Mark Warner and Jim Webb obviously ran extremely deceitful campaigns. If Warner had said Pelosi was a bit too centrist for him, I would not argue with his decisions as Virginia voters would have known what they were voting for. Modern day Democrats – if their lips are moving they’re lying. Yes Republicans lie too but not as relentlessly and flippantly. Obama is the poster child for this. I would never have said that about the previous generation of Democrats, say pre 1975. I pray both Webb and Warner are thrown out on their ear.
The problem I have with Kagan is her express view that the government has the authority to determine whose opinions are “reasonable enough” to speak politically. This statement alone should disqualify her.
Ward: the premise of your post is that there is some consensus in Virginia that something is wrong with Kagan as a nominee. I’d suggest that, outside of the GOP blogosphere, that is not the case. There is not a great deal of opposition to Kagan among normal voters. It’s not a topic that’s much on their minds. So I would agree that Warner’s vote show he’s out of step with conservative blogs. I thought that was a given.
Not quite Steve, the premise is that Warner was not speaking the truth when he said he would lead from the “Sensible Center.”
It’s not unlike his promise (13 times in one debate) to not raise taxes. Something he tried every year of his administration as Governor until he succeeded in pushing the largest single tax increase in Virginia history.
Beyond that, I’d have to quibble with your definition of “normal voters.”
But I’d agree that those “normal” voters don’t have much on their minds.
Ward: You and I might very much agree on your last sentence there;-)
I think the point I was trying to make was that outside of activists on both sides which, as you know, make up a very small percentage of the population, nobody much cares about the Kagan nomination.
The most vocal activists on both sides don’t like the nomination. On the right, you guys think she’s a raving leftist. The ledt isn’t convinced she’s left enough.
So, in the sense that the pick doesn’t make either of the extremes happy, I guess it could be viewed as pick from the “sensible center”….although, wasn’t Warner’s campaign theme “radical centrism” — as dumb as that sounds?
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