eudaemonia

In Alito's wake

With the advent of Judge Alito’s elevation to the Supreme Court we may take stock of the effect this can have on 2008 presidential politics. I for one feel the new and improved Robert’s court will redound to the benefit of certain Republican presidential aspirants heretofore deemed very electable but unable to win the GOP nomination. I have Rudy Giuliani in mind.

As “Americas Mayor” in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11, he won praise that crossed party and ideological lines. But outside his careful ministrations and leadership in this most horrendous of situations, Mr. Giuliani also governed as a tough street crime fighter that underscored his ability to address problems that others thought intractable. He showed in practical terms that personal security is the most fundamental civil liberty. He made New York livable again and would have easily won reelection had he not been term limited out.

Nevertheless, the good Mayor does have some soft spots relative to the conservative platform. What makes him unable to win a GOP nomination in 2008, it is thought, is his liberal stance on social issues; with abortion rights in particular. But, here is where the Alito nomination may recast the national political dynamic.

Issues like abortion rights have been thrust onto the national stage precisely because the SC has taken these issues away from the states’ democratic processes. Why the paleo-press insists on amplifying a right to privacy “litmus tests” protecting abortion rights is precisely so states’ legislative majorities cannot pass on them. It is because the Court should not be here, as a matter of law that makes keeping the Court in the hands of substantive due process judges so important to the left. Now comes Sam Alito.

By all reports, when Justice Alito joins the Court the concept of substantive due process is in for some serious pairing down. And the effect of overturning a constitutionally protected right to abortion, or any other substantive due process creations, will be to cast these nationalized issues back to the states where they should have been all along. Politically, this will have the effect of neutralizing the issue nationally. Politicians like Giuliani can now safely take a position on the abortion issue and be insulated from the proposition that their opinions will translate into pro-abortion statutes in the states. The abortion issue will no longer be a federal issue, but a state issue. This same analysis will hold for gay marriage et. al.

What Rudy Giuliani needs to make clear, and from all reports he has already done so, is that he is strong on national security, proactive on the War on Terror, strong on immigration/securing the boarder policy and will nominate originalists to the Court.

posted by spelunker @ 6:59 PM