Obama's past politics make bipartisan work difficult, attorney says

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — If President Barack Obama is hoping for bipartisan support for his future Supreme Court nominees, he may have painted himself into a political corner, prominent conservative attorney Kenneth W. Starr told a crowd of LDS attorneys.

Starr said Obama may have occasion to appoint two or more justices to the high court, and because he actively opposed former President George W. Bush's nominees while he was the junior senator from Illinois, Senate Republicans just might return the favor.

During an address Friday night at the historic Old South Meeting House in downtown Boston, Starr reminded attendees of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society conference that Obama supported a filibuster against Justice Samuel Alito and voted against John Roberts, now Supreme Court Chief Justice.

"It is the era of President Obama; it is also the era of the Roberts Court, two very able lawyers," Starr said,

Starr also pointed out what he called some "demographic facts" about members of the court, including the fact that John Paul Stephens, the oldest member of the Supreme Court, recently celebrated his 88th birthday. Starr said there are four members of the court who are in their 70s and eligible for retirement, and there's one member in his 60s who has reached retirement eligibility.

"These two key facts, perhaps that was three, suggest that President Obama will, during his four years or eight years as president of the United States, make one or two or perhaps more appointments to the nation's highest court," he said.

Starr also said Obama enters office with solid Democratic majorities in both chambers of Congress and support from several key moderate Republicans who can help him advance his legislative agenda.

However, Starr pointed out, "the salience of this very enviable position, politically, for our president is brought home by the president's own approach to the high court during his years of service as a United States senator.

"There is one historical factoid of note: He is the first president of the United States ever in our history to have participated in a Senate filibuster of a judicial nominee. Never before has that happened."

Starr cited a November article in The Washington Times about the problems Obama faces, quoting, "Senate Republicans say the president-elect's voting record and long-simmering resentments over Democrats' treatment of President Bush's nominees will leave Mr. Obama hard-pressed to call for bipartisan help confirming judges or even an up-or-down vote."

Starr told the audience he would not speak in-depth publicly about his scheduled March 5 appearance before the California Supreme Court, where he will argue in favor of upholding a ban on same-sex marriage approved by voters under Proposition 8.