If He Had Spoken Like This He Might Have Won.

Senator John Kerry (MA-D) released a letter stating his intention to vote against John Roberts' nomination for the Supreme Court. While it is welcomed it probably won't make much of a difference come the final tally. I do not believe the Democrats will waste a filibuster trying to keep Rehnquist II from replacing Rehnquist I. If they are planning to fight a nomination it would be strategically better to wait until O'Connor's next potential replacement comes up for confirmation. Kerry's letter:

Dear

Monday, I shared with you my Brown University speech setting out what needs to be said and done at this critical moment for our country. Today, in that same spirit of clarity and conviction, I want to tell you how I will vote on the nomination of John Roberts to serve as Chief Justice of the United States.

I will vote against this vitally important nomination.

Win or lose on this vote, it is essential that we act on our deepest convictions. And I refuse to vote for a Supreme Court nominee who came before the Senate intent on demonstrating his ability to deftly deflect legitimate questions about his views, opinions and philosophy.

With that much at stake, Judge Roberts needed to show us where his heart is.

Instead he recited case law and said little about what he really thought. He needed to engage the Senate Judiciary Committee and the American people in a genuine conversation. He failed that test. And, while I recognize that other members of the Senate will legitimately make a different choice, I will vote "NO" on the Roberts nomination.

Excerpts from John Kerry's Brown University speech are here.