A challenge from Harry Reid

Democratic Senators have warned President Bush that a nomination of Judge Janice Rogers Brown (or two others) to be the next Supreme Court Justice would represent an unnecessary provocation and would be met by substantial opposition in the Senate.

I think President Bush should accept this challenge and not shrink from this winnable fight. Nominate Judge Brown.

We can win a confirmation battle this time. The situation is not the same as it was in 1987 when the Democrats defeated Bork. We have a majority in the Senate. The full Senate voted overwhelmingly to confirm Brown to the appellate court only a few months ago. The kind of fight Reid promises would represent a betrayal of the "deal" that John McCain and the other moderates created at that time.

Let them explain why Judge Brown suddenly constitutes an "extraordinary circumstance."

Let them explain why they changed their vote this time after voting for Brown earlier this year.

A partisan fight (or a filibuster) over Judge Brown would also expose McCain for the useless jellyfish that he is.

As part of this campaign, we should publicly demand assurances from Chuck Schumer that his staff will not retrieve credit reports on Judge Brown illegally.

This time also we have the full resources of the blogosphere at our disposal. The mobilization of the blogosphere, talk radio and the new media for Justice Roberts was tremendous and should serve as a dry run for a real battle. We had none of those resources in 1987.

A retreat now would have the effect of allowing Harry Reid to run the country for the next 3 years.

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update - Michelle Malkin and Powerline post updates on the Roberts vote and the implications for future nominees.