Obama: Much more centrist than progressive.

Congressional, White House rift over conservative judicial nominees intensifies (Click on this heading to read more)

Rss@dailykos.com (joan Mccarter)
Thursday, February 27, 2014, 8:46 pm
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A rift has been growing between liberal and black members of Congress and President Obama over his choice to nominate two very socially conservative judicial nominees for vacancies in Georgia. That rift opened further, with Georgia Democrat Rep. David Scott accusing the president of showing "disrespect" to America with these nominees. The White House is fighting back.
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    Months of controversy exploded into public view again when Scott, in an interview on NewsOne Radio with Roland Martin, said it is incumbent on civil rights groups to convince Obama to pull down Georgia district court nominees Michael Boggs and Mark Cohen, and said the president will thank them for it later. Boggs, a former state legislator, has come under intense fire from civil rights leaders, abortion rights groups and those representing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people over past votes to keep the confederate insignia on the Georgia state flag, to tighten restrictions on access to abortion and to ban same-sex marriage. Cohen, meanwhile, has taken heat for successfully defending Georgia's voter ID law in court.

    "What your audience needs to understand is the level of disrespect that this president has done to this nation on these appointments," Scott said in the radio interview. "The president is gone in 29 months. These individuals will be left on the courts to impact and affect all future generations."

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White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler responded sharply: "Do we work with Republican senators to find a compromise, or should we leave the seats vacant? [...] We believe it would be grossly irresponsible for the president to leave these seats vacant."
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That's a false choice. President Obama doesn't need to nominate politically abhorrent judges to show bipartisanship or to fill vacancies
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