To the Editor:
Mr. Sinai makes some interesting points in his column ("Off the Bench and Into the Fire," July 7), sounding very much like a self-satisfied Republican who is surprised and upset to learn that, despite his presidential candidate's 51 percent victory, there are still people who disagree with him.
Mr. Sinai seems shocked that the Democrats in the Senate plan to "browbeat any candidate right of center" and says that this is "not what the American people should reasonably expect given last November's results." Odd. The fact is that the American people are split almost exactly down the middle when it comes to liberal or conservative. Fifty-one percent of voters voted for George Bush last November, the same percentage that voted for Al Gore in 2000. Given that set of facts, a contentious debate over a Supreme Court nominee who is anything other than centrist is exactly what I would expect.
Far from being shameful, how can debate from a party that represents nearly half of Americans be bad for the country? I certainly hope that Mr. Sinai is not so naive as to think that if John Kerry had won last November and was now nominating a successor to Justice O'Connor, Republicans in the Senate would be any slower to shout "judicial activist!" at any nominee left of center.