McCain Campaign Press Release - What They're Saying About John McCain's Judicial Speech

McCain Sets The Bar For Choosing Federal Judges:

CNN's Wolf Blitzer: "McCain Is Setting A Bar For How He'd Choose Federal Judges."(CNN's "The Situation Room," 5/6/08)

Investor's Business Daily: "McCain This Week Committed Himself To Buttressing The Federal Courts' Integrity As What They Were Meant To Be: Nonpolitical Tribunals, Dedicated To Upholding The Constitution." (Editorial, "Judging McCain," Investor's Business Daily, 5/6/08)

The Boston Globe: McCain Declares "That He Would Appoint Federal Judges Who Would Not Make Law." "John McCain picked a key Democratic primary day and one of the states voting to declare this morning that he would appoint federal judges who would not make law." (Foon Rhee, "McCain Highlights Judicial Appointments," The Boston Globe's "Political Intelligence" Blog, 5/6/08)

Investor's Business Daily: "Presumptive GOP Presidential Nominee John McCain's Pledge To Appoint Supreme Court Justices Who Will Judge, Not Legislate, Is Right In Itself." (Editorial, "Judging McCain," Investor's Business Daily, 5/6/08)

The New York Times: "In What His Campaign Promoted As Major Address On The Judiciary, Mr. McCain Vowed To Appoint Only Judges With What He Called A Proven Commitment To Judicial Restraint And Fidelity To The Constitution." (Elisabeth Bumiller, "McCain Criticizes Democratic Rivals On 'Activist' Judges," The New York Times, 5/6/08)

The Washington Times: "Mr. McCain Said He Would Give Great Care To The Nomination Of Judges, And Pledged To Restore The Core Beliefs Of The Judicial System." (Joseph Curl, "McCain Rips Liberal Judicial System," The Washington Times, 5/6/08)

CBS: "John McCain Said He Would Nominate Supreme Court Justices In The Mold Of Chief Justice John Roberts And Justice Samuel Alito." (Andante Higgins, "McCain Outlines Judicial Philosophy, Slams Obama," CBS' "From The Road" Blog, 5/6/08)

Reuters: "Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain Said On Tuesday He Would Appoint Judges In The Mold Of Conservatives John Roberts, Samuel Alito And Former Chief Justice William Rehnquist If He Were Elected In November." (Tim Gaynor, "McCain Will Seek Judges Like Roberts And Alito," Reuters, 5/6/08)

Reverend Richard Land: "If His Template Is Roberts And Alito . . . And A Judicial Restraint And Judicial Humility Template, That's A More Positive And Less Personal Way Of Saying No More Souters.'" (Elisabeth Bumiller, "McCain Assures Conservatives Of His Stance On Judges," The New York Times, 5/7/08)

ABC News: McCain Speech "Well Received." "McCain's speech was well received by an audience made up primarily of Wake Forest University students." (Bret Hovell, "McCain Criticizes 'Activist Judges,'" ABC News, 5/6/08)

American Spectator: McCain "Delivered A Very Strong Speech." "I'm here at Wait Chapel in Wake Forest University where John McCain just delivered a very strong speech on judges and the U.S. Constitution." (Philip Klein, "McCain Draws Contrast With Obama On Judges," American Spectator's "AmSpec" Blog, 5/6/08)

The Washington Times: "The Speech Was Warmly Received By Conservatives." (Joseph Curl, "McCain Indicts Judges Who 'Make' Law," The Washington Times, 5/7/08)

Weekly Standard's Fred Barnes: "What He Said Today Was Perfectly Consistent With McCain's Record On Judicial Nominations All Along. He Is Going To Nominate Conservatives If He Becomes President, Though." (Fox News' "Special Report," 5/6/08)

CBS: "John McCain Said Today He Hopes Cooperation Among Republicans And Democrats Can End The Bitter Fighting Over The Appointment Of Judges." (Andante Higgins, "McCain Urges Bipartisanship On Judges," CBS' "From The Road" Blog, 5/6/08)

McCain Indicts The Federal Court System For Judicial Activism:

Fox News' Carl Cameron: "While McCain Expresses Respect For The Federal Bench, His Disdain For Activist Judges As Arrogant And Dangerous Is Most Pointed." (Carl Cameron, "McCain The Judicial Conservative," Fox News' "Cameron's Corner" Blog, 5/6/08)

ABC News: McCain "Indicted The Entire Federal Court System For [What] He Sees As Its Embrace Of Judicial Activism." "The Arizona Republican indicted the entire federal court system for he sees as its embrace of judicial activism, calling the 'common and systematic abuse of our federal courts' the 'great exception' to a system of checks and balances in this country that otherwise works well." (Bret Hovell, "McCain Criticizes 'Activist Judges,'" ABC News, 5/6/08)

National Review: McCain "Forcefully Decried" Judicial Activism. "In his speech at Wake Forest University, McCain identified the battle over the proper role of the judiciary as 'one of the defining issues of this presidential election.' Defending the Constitution's separation of powers, he forcefully decried how the decades-long 'common and systematic abuse of our federal courts' by judicial activists has usurped the power of the American people to address policy questions through the democratic process." (Editorial, "McCain's Promise On Judges," National Review, 5/6/08)

Newsday: "McCain Delivered A Harsh Critique Of 'Judicial Activists." "In a speech his campaign billed as a major address on the judiciary, McCain delivered a harsh critique of 'judicial activists' who over step their Constitutional bounds." (Tom Brune, "McCain Says He'll Appoint Conservative Judges," Newsday, 5/7/08)

Reuters: McCain "Slammed" Judicial Activism. "In his speech, McCain slammed what he called 'judicial activism' in court appointments, and criticized Democratic presidential candidates Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, for voting against the nominations of Roberts and Alito." (Tim Gaynor, "McCain Will Seek Judges Like Roberts And Alito," Reuters, 5/6/08)

U.S. News & World Report: McCain "Took Aim" At Judicial Activism. "In a speech today laying out his views on the federal judiciary, McCain took aim at what he called the pervasive judicial activism in the courts." (Emma Schwartz, "McCain's Judicial Speech Could Help With Conservatives," U.S. News & World Report, 5/6/08)

American Values President Gary Bauer: McCain Speech "Music To The Ears Of Conservatives That Have Been Very Worried About Activist Judges." (Jess Bravin And Elizabeth Holmes, "McCain Vows To Push Federal Judiciary To The Right," The Wall Street Journal, 5/7/08)

Family Research Council Action President Tony Perkins: "Senator McCain's speech will be well-received by millions of Americans alarmed by activist judges who undermine the rule of law by legislating from the bench. We applaud Senator McCain for his support of federal judges who will apply the U.S. Constitution. He is correct in criticizing both federal judges who presume to 'make law instead of apply it' and the obstructionist Senate Democratic leaders who continue to deny hearings to well-qualified judicial nominees." (Family Research Council Action, "FRC Action Praises John McCain's Pledge To 'Restore' The Judiciary, Confront Judicial Activism," Press Release, 5/6/08)

Hot Air: "McCain Has This Much Correct: We Cannot Restrain The Federal Government While The Judiciary Acts As A Legislature." "McCain has this much correct: we cannot restrain the federal government while the judiciary acts as a legislature. The very act of judicial activism of the kind supported by Obama, Clinton, and others puts more and more power into the federal government and away from the states and the people." (Ed Morrissey, "McCain On Judicial Activism: Look No Farther Than Obama," Hot Air, 5/6/08)

Third Branch Conference Praises John McCain's Emphasis On Judicial Restraint. "We applaud Senator McCain for his Wake Forest speech today. He clearly wants what we want. We are pleased that his speech and our Principles coincide in their emphasis on two key aspects: judicial restraint in judging and seeking proven merit in nominating." (Third Branch Conference, "Conservative Leaders Move To Adopt Guiding Principles For Republicans On Judges Applaud John McCain For Wake Forest Speech," Press Release, 5/6/08)

McCain "Driving Home A Big Difference With The Democrats":

Weekly Standard's Bill Kristol: "Obama . . . Has Not Been Just A Normal Democrat But The Left Wing Of The Democratic Party." KRISTOL: "A lot of moderate Democrats are unhappy that the courts make fundamental decisions on social policy. A majority of Democrats in the United States Senator voted to confirm John Roberts as Chief Justice of the United States. It is a very good issue to point out that Obama, on many issues, has not been just a normal Democrat but the left wing of the Democratic Party." (Fox News' "Special Report," 5/6/08)

CNN's Wolf Blitzer: "Today John McCain Is Driving Home A Big Difference With The Democrats." (CNN's "The Situation Room," 5/6/08)

The Chicago Tribune: "McCain Said He Would Nominate Very Different People With A Very Different Understanding Of Judicial Authority To The Federal Bench From Obama Or Clinton." (Jill Zuckman, "McCain On Obama: 'Too Lofty' On Judges," Chicago Tribune's "The Swamp" Blog, 5/6/08)

ABC News: McCain Took Senator Obama "To Task For Not Voting For The Confirmation Of John Roberts." "During a speech designed to reach out to conservative voters on the issue of judicial responsibility, presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain took Democratic candidate Barack Obama to task for not voting for the confirmation of John Roberts to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court." (Bret Hovell, "McCain Criticizes 'Activist Judges,'' ABC News, 5/6/08)

The Hill: "McCain Strongly Criticized Democratic Front-Runner Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) For Opposing The Confirmation Of Roberts." (Klaus Marre, "McCain Lambastes Judicial Activism," The Hill, 5/6/08)

Hot Air: Voting Against Roberts "Proves [Obama] To Be A Hard-Left Ideologue." "How radical was Obama's nay vote? His was one of only 22 votes in opposition to Roberts. Chris Dodd and Patty Murray voted to confirm Roberts, and yet Obama and Hillary Clinton voted against him. Getting to the left of Dodd and Murray takes some doing, and for a man who professes to be some kind of unifying force, the result proves him to be a hard-Left ideologue." (Ed Morrissey, "McCain On Judicial Activism: Look No Farther Than Obama," Hot Air, 5/6/08)

Ethics And Public Policy Center Head Ed Whelan: "McCain Has Drawn A Clear Line Between His Support For Judicial Restraint And Obama's Promise To Appoint Liberal Judicial Activists." (Juliet Eilperin, "McCain Sees Roberts, Alito As Examples," The Washington Post's "The Trail" Blog, 5/6/08)

In The Headlines: