This should be a slam dunk - BUT
Roberts picks up Democratic supporthttp://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20050922/1073965.aspRoberts picks up Democratic support
By JESSE J. HOLLAND
Associated Press
9/22/2005
Sen. Patrick J. Leahy says he will vote for Roberts.
WASHINGTON - Chief Justice-nominee John G. Roberts Jr., his confirmation secure, picked up support from fractured Senate Democrats on Wednesday as President Bush met with lawmakers to discuss a second vacancy on the Supreme Court.
The Judiciary Committee's senior Democrat, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, announced his endorsement shortly after leaving the White House. That guaranteed bipartisan backing for Roberts in today's scheduled vote by the committee.
But Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and fellow Democratic Sens. Barbara Boxer of California, Edward M. Kennedy and John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, and Jon S. Corzine and Frank J. Lautenberg of New Jersey all are opposing the Roberts nomination.
Their stand is evidence of the split among the Senate's 44 Democrats about whether they can, or should, mount even symbolic opposition to the successor to late Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist.