David Hamilton, Obama's First Appeals Court Pick, Said To Be A Moderate

New York Times:

President Obama is expected to name his first candidate to an appeals court seat this week, officials said, choosing David F. Hamilton, a highly regarded federal trial court judge from Indiana, for the appeals court in Chicago.

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[crazylady]

How does the American Bar Association rate him?

Having children myself, I don't think he's the best choice for the seat. He scares me!

[elr50]

Now if we could just get rid of Scalia and Thomas! Two wastes of human life.

[Mintcondition]

hey howcome, how long have you been friends with President Obama? Just asking because you are referring to our CiC by his first name.

[howcome]

Yes , the monarchy of Chairman Obama is upon us

[lvdragonlady]

Idiots abound when good people try to do the right thing.

[henrywolff]

What's moderate about being the only judge in the nation to delay (for seven years) implementation of an informed-consent law approved by the Supreme Court. Perhaps "activist" would be a better description.

[henrywolff]

Please stop with all the moderate this, moderate that. Only from your perspective. Why aren't libs more comfortable with their own views? All the sleight of hand only makes you look ridiculous.

[roald]

We are and this judge appears to be a moderate. Stop hijacking "moderate" to mean anyone left of Attila the Hun.

[henrywolff]

I'm not hijacking the term, I don't want it. "Moderates" are confused, muddled thinkers. I'm just wondering why the left insists on wearing that mantle. I think deep down they are afraid for people to know what they are.

[jcwtts1]

Gotta tell you, if this guy is a moderate then I am ok with moderates. He is aligned with several cases that fit the liberal model. I think it might be ok. But how about some flaming liberals at some point. Unabashed liberal judicial voices.

J

[kasv]

I hear what you're saying especially when comparing to bush, who held a ceremony in the rose garden 4 months after his first election to name 11 VERY conservative activist judges to the appeals court. Now THAT was a-ok with the GOP.

Let's see what they do with Pres Obama's choices.

[roald]

They will fight tooth and nail to keep the socialists out of the judiciary.

[Renee27]

I hope Obama picks a liberal/progressive next time. We need more liberal/pr­ogressives to balance things out between the nutty conservatives and the weak flip flopping so-called moderates. Moderates are over rated, they are called moderate because some of them are afraid to really stand for something.

Many people voted for Obama because they wanted real change not "moderate" change.

[howcome]

Extremists (progressives) are undesirable , even to Barack

[Hawka]

that's true. Extremism in any shape or form, whether from the right or the left, is pretty undesirable for most people anyway.

[kasv]

We'll see... extremists were just fine with bush and the GOP congress.

[marxmarv]

In the context of an already extreme roster, tacking to or at least solidly in the direction of the opposite extreme is desirable.

[Renee27]

Fox News, big business, and nutty conservatives think of moderates as individuals who are willing cave into their agenda. Individuals who will vote against health care reform, or individuals who will go against unionizing, etc. That is why I don't want someone who is seen as a moderate by the corporate media standards.

[JackND]

Uh...no.

Moderates are simply too practical and too dignified to be wacky extremists on either side.

The candidate who is closer to the center will get my vote every time in every contest.

Fortunately, unlike many of his out there fans, that was O this time.

[Lillopa]

When will people learn and listen to what this Pres Obama says period. Following his campagn pledges. 95% tax cut and McCain said no no no --republicans are all obstructionist you think? Pres Obama is working hard and showing he is working for the middle class rights and justice for all! Republcians hate that period--only for the wealthy!

[jsgaetano]

If the guy is competent... that's a HUGE departure from Bush.

Competence is kryptonite to conservatives.

[edtheengineer]

In the republiCANT world, Clarence Thomas is a competent moderate.

[AZterritory]

About.
Time.

[teron678]

Glad to hear this .....

[Lynwood Walker]

I was worried about this for a while, particuarly with the supreme court. Obama seems to care too much about appearing moderate, whatever that means. I am really hoping that he doesn't choose a moderate to counteract Alito and Roberts in the next supreme court appointment. We need real liberals on the bench or they win for a generation.

[suzc]

For Moderate read Pragmatist. The best we can hope for. Someone who actually THINKS THROUGH an issue and votes the Constitution! Not his ideology. In law school, we took a class called Decision Process. I wondered what its point was. I've since learned. One of the most useful classes ever. How and why you make a decision a certain way.

[Lynwood Walker]

As with being moderate, I think pragmatic is silly. I think one reason liberals have trouble connecting with voters in prosperous times is because they come off as weak and unprincipled whereas republicans look like fighters.
We gain nothing by making concessions before debate has started. Why is the best we can hope for always a diluted form of what research shows is best. Why don't we try to push through our policies in pure form first, and then edit to get a couple more votes in the end.
Its like in the stimulus.If we had proposed a 1.5 trillion dollar bill with 10% tax cuts, republicans would have demanded the bill shave off .5 tillion and that tax cuts go up to 20%. I think being over pragmatic comes off as being unsure and unprincipled.

Being moderate/pragmatic can be an ideology too. Its an ideology based on the idea that both sides have equally good points in every situation and the best policy falls in the middle. This is clearly not the case when one side calls for a spending freeze in a depression.
If you are a liberal, believe in your policy, push it, support, demand pure legislation. If our legislation is less effective because its been watered down, people aren't going to remember we were pragmatic and cooperated with other interests. They will remember that our policies failed and the republicans willbe all too happy to remind them. Go big or go home.

[SarcastroBO]

You see, if a judge is a liberal as opposed to a moderate, they obviously are just issuing decisions willy-nilly without any regard for the law.

[Grunty1]

That is exactly what conservatives do, but that is not what a judge is supposed to do. They are supposed to be unbiased and follow the law. Someone who is a true moderate probably has an easier job doing that than a person who has a strongly held, professed opinion.

[SarcastroBO]

Two things:

1) The media and the GOP won't treat this judge as a moderate. He will be called and treated as a liberal

2) The next GOP President won't try to take partisanship out of his judge appointments. He will pick fire-breathing conservatives more often then not.

[Grunty1]

And there is the reason why we need to stop letting Rushpublicans in the White House.

[PATina]

Won't happen if moderates keep weakening the left by dissing liberals. Won't have anyone to stop them from taking over.

[SarcastroBO]

Here we go again. Democrats choose "moderates" while Republicans choose fire-breathing conservatives. Liberals are left hanging.

[Grunty1]

Neither party should be picking ideologues for judge positions! They need to be picking judges who follow the LAW and not let their own opinions overshadow the law!

[suzc]

YES!!!!!!!! Grunty1, I just became a fan!
I have actually voted in elections for balance on the Supreme Court!
This time it was a lot more than that but if I had tended to vote for McCain (before Palin), I would have thought many times over about his Supreme Court choices.
The best we can usually do at the federal level is vote for balance!
Luckily, I believe Obama is bringing some!!! Imagine that!!!!

[conniedogs]

Exactly

[MomfromTexas]

Thank you!

[Lovepolitics2008]

Good comment. And congratulations to the President for restoring the role of the American Bar Association in reviewing the nominees.

[teron678]

great comment/rebuttal ...

[truegreen]

Stop fussing....Hamilton is a democrat.

[TheBaffler]

Most Democrats are far too conservative.

[marxmarv]

So is Bayh. Your point?