McCain Won't Vote for Sotomayor

By: Prerana Swami
Topics: Sonia Sotomayor

(CBS)

Senator John McCain announced Monday that he will not vote for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor to be confirmed later this week.

In a statement on the floor of the Senate, the former Republican presidential candidate characterized as Sotomayor an "activist" who does not seem to share his belief in "judicial restraint."

"Her writings demonstrated that she does not subscribe to the philosophy that federal judges should respect the limited nature of the judicial power under our Constitution," McCain said.

Furthermore, McCain said that Sotomayor used her position to "amend the law to fit the circumstances of the case." According to McCain, "The job of a judge is not to make law or ignore the law."

"I cannot support activist judges that seek to legislate from the bench," he said. "Judicial activism demonstrates a lack of respect for the popular will that is at fundamental odds with our republican system of government."

McCain said that neither Sotomayor's "inspiring and compelling" life story nor her "excellent" resume are enough to qualify her for the Supreme Court.

"Regardless of one's success in academics and in government service, an individual who does not appreciate the common sense limitations on judicial power in our democratic system of government ultimately lacks a key qualification for a lifetime appointment to the bench," McCain said.

McCain's full statement can be found here.

48 Comments Have Your Say
Email Story Send to a Friend
Share This Tell Your Friends
Tweet This Tweet This
More Share It

Add a Comment

See all 48 Comments


by londoninny August 4, 2009 8:10 PM EDT: Ross Perot once said about McCain, "John McCain is the classic political opportunist, always reaching for attention and glory." John McCain is the most dishonest man in America. I will not say that he's "intellectually" dishonest because that might presume that I think he is an intellectual, and most certainly he is not. This past week John McCain, courtesy of a supportive mainstream media was given air time to: (a) express his sadness at the attacks against Sarah Palin when it was ironically his surrogates that tried to sandbag Palin with the fault for McCain's loss to Obama in 2008 and (b) express regret for his inability to support Sotomayor. John McCain can seek the support of a popular Puerto Rican male singing icon like Daddy Yankee who sings about pumping women full of his 'gasolina', during his run for the Presidency in an an attempt to shore up the latino vote on the cheap, but he cannot support for the Supreme Court, a Puerto Rican woman fron New York's inner city who has climbed the highest ranks of our educational establishment (Princeton & Yale) and the American judiciary should tell you all you need to know about John McCain, but check some further evidence of this alleged "maverick's" cynically pragamatic misogynistic outlook which evidence that McCain is clearly not a friend of women or minorities in America. In short, McCain's supports Al Jolsen style minorities: if you can sing and dance, entertain and deliver votes, McCain is with you, if you are smarter than he is, and will ultimately be more powerful, Little Man McCain needs to knock you back down. McCain's "Maverick" brand is but a fiction created by his handlers and friends in the mainstream media to explain away his hypocrisy, to allow him to continue to maneuver politically in a shape shifting fashion in a dynamic world, to insure his legacy, solidify his brand so that he can continue to be an effective and credible voice for corporate militarism and shill for America's military industrial complex whenever needed. That he wraps himself in the flag and claims he does it for the citizens of Arizona, his fellow countrymen or those in uniform is not to be believed. McCain has no core values or fundamental understanding of economic issues or arguably even military ones, so his lame attempt to find a defensible ruberic for which to reject Sotomayor is humorous in its insincerity.
This "maverick" label fosters the illusion that John McCain is his own man and he is not. McCain's rise to political power and prominence is related first and foremost to due to his alliance with Cindy Hensley and powerful forces in the military industrial complex who use McCain as an effective shill. McCain's lifestyle is not possible without Cindy's family money, political connections and the military contractors and the paycheck the people give him in the Senate. The man knows little else except how to survive in congress. He is neither a Republican or a Democrat, he is a Kleptocrat who lives a life of an American Aristocrat while posing as the ordinary man, military war hero.; Reply to this comment


by mattcat25 August 4, 2009 10:57 AM EDT: During the Presidential Election John McCain stated that the US Economy was just fine (at that time) and there was no recession.

McCain also coveted a LONG TERM Military Operation involvement in Iraq for possibly ONE HUNDRED YEARS. And, this same Senator that ran for the President of the United States also wanted to bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb-bomb Iran.

The United States has changed course by not allowing the continuation of the same detrimental policies of the Conservative Agenda. Cash for Clunkers, Energy Alternatives (besides DRILLBABYDRILL!) and National HealthCare Reform are a few issues that have been started the will be a benefit to all Americans instead of the $Billions of Federal Treasury Funds going to Private Multinational Corporations with accounts in off shore TAX FREE Banks such as in Dubai.; Reply to this comment


by bradkt1 August 4, 2009 12:30 AM EDT: Too little, too late for Senator John McCain. He's trying to have it both ways...and failing to satusfy anyone in the process. First, he says that President Obama is doing a good job with the economy and then he says that he is not being bipartisan. He supports Obama's decision to kill the F-22 and votes against the confirmation of Judge Sontamayor. All he is accomplishing is earning the contempt of both liberals and conservatives alike.

I don't see much of a political future for him in Arizona...not with the growing Hispanic vote. This could be a seat that the Democrats pick up in the next election cycle.; Reply to this comment


by an84u August 3, 2009 9:43 PM EDT: I believe few care how McCain votes, since he's proved such a poor judge of women leaders. Anyone who'd choose the likes of Sara Pallin to be a possible & likely heartbeat away from the US presidency has already revealed he has neither skill nor ability to pick leaders. I think the sad old fart needs to go gently into the sunset...he long since shot his proverbial wad!; Reply to this comment


by toldyouso29 August 3, 2009 9:39 PM EDT: Who cares who McCain votes for? He BETTER care about all those Hispanic constituents in Arizona who may clean his clock in the next election--for failing to vote their girl in . LOL; Reply to this comment


by airjackie August 3, 2009 9:20 PM EDT: Senator McCain has shown he is a deep rooted racist but he will do what ever it takes to trick minorities even if it means talking since about Dr. King. Remember the Town Hall Meetings when McCain talked down to the young black man asking a question. Yes and who could forget McCain refusing to shake Senator Obama's hand and even Cindy McCain has to tell Grandpa John he was wrong. John told Cindy it was that memory lost again. I love to see and hear the GOP claim they want immigrants to go home while their the one's who are hiring them to work. Yes John and Cindy have immigrants working for them at their many homes. Now Senator McCain will never allow a Black person to work in his home, he can't even visit his own Black relatives on the McCain Farm.; Reply to this comment


by HGOODGUY August 3, 2009 6:47 PM EDT: THIS THE GUY THAT PICKED SARAH PALIN FOLKS!!!

THROUGH ALL HIS CLAIMS OF SUPER PATRIOTISM, HIS ONLY REASON FOR PICKING HER WAS THAT SHE IS AN ATTRACTIVE FEMALE!!

DOES ANYONE REALIZE THAT STACK OF FLUFF COULD HAVE BEEN A HEARTBEAT AWAY FROM BECOMING THE PRESIDENT???

COMON GUYS--YOU CAN'T BE THAT STUPID!!!!; Reply to this comment


by lovegetpeace August 3, 2009 6:32 PM EDT: Folks,

Two surveys of the Court's decisions put the lie to the idea that "judicial activism" is the bailiwick of liberals. One of them, conducted by Yale Law Professor Paul Gewirtz and Yale grad Chad Golder, reviewed Supreme Court rulings from 1994-2005. In this period, the Court either struck down or upheld Congressional statutes (or provisions of those statutes) in 64 cases:

"We found that justices vary widely in their inclination to strike down Congressional laws. Justice Clarence Thomas, appointed by President George H. W. Bush, was the most inclined, voting to invalidate 65.63 percent of those laws; Justice Stephen Breyer, appointed by President Bill Clinton, was the least, voting to invalidate 28.13 percent. The tally for all the justices appears below.

Thomas 65.63%
Kennedy 64.06%
Scalia 56.25%
Rehnquist 46.88%
O?Connor 46.77%
Souter 42.19%
Stevens 39.34%
Ginsburg 39.06%
Breyer 28.13%

One conclusion our data suggests is that those justices often considered more "liberal" - Justices Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, David Souter and John Paul Stevens - vote least frequently to overturn Congressional statutes, while those often labeled "conservative" vote more frequently to do so. At least by this measure (others are possible, of course), the latter group is the most activist."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/06/opinion/06gewirtz.html?ex=1278302400&en=0e5fac7774080327&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/5/27/735899/-A-Little-Reminder-About-Judicial-Activism; Reply to this comment


by lovegetpeace August 3, 2009 6:31 PM EDT: Folks,
How can we expect Senator McCain to know Sotomayor if he does not know how many houses he owns?; Reply to this comment


by Willyum40 August 3, 2009 6:28 PM EDT: It is amazing; McCain believes that Sarah Palin is qualified to be President of the United States but does not believe that the Supreme Court nominee has the qualifications to sit on the highest court in the land. This "activist" label is nothing more than an excuse to mock Obama. McCain really disappoints me , he is becoming a joke. The Palin selection was the first step into his current demise.; Reply to this comment