Washington Prepares for Fight Over Any Nominee

how true, they will fight over any nominee

WASHINGTON — The nation’s capital geared up Friday for a battle over a Supreme Court vacancy that appeared likely to test President Obama’s success at skirting divisive social issues, with conservative groups saying they viewed the opening created by the retirement of Justice David H. Souter as an opportunity to regroup after a series of political setbacks.

Even as Mr. Souter delivered a letter to the White House formally disclosing his intention to step down at the end of this term, liberal and conservative leaders prepared for another of the intense battles over Supreme Court appointments that have marked the past 20 years in Washington. Mr. Souter — though appointed by a Republican, the first President George Bush — has been a part of the liberal bloc of the court, so Mr. Obama’s appointment is unlikely to shift the ideological makeup of the court.

Mr. Obama, who was president of the Harvard Law Review and taught law at the University of Chicago, praised Mr. Souter’s tenure, and laid out what he was looking for in making a nomination.

“I will seek someone who understands that justice isn’t about some abstract legal theory or footnote in a casebook,” Mr. Obama said during an unscheduled appearance in the White House briefing room. “It is also about how our laws affect the daily realities of people’s lives.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/02/us/02court.html?hpw=&pagewanted=print