Democrats Get Last Shot At Roberts

Frustrated by two days of sparring with John Roberts, Democrats are down to their final chances to coax answers from the chief justice nominee on abortion, privacy and other hot-button issues before he heads to likely Senate confirmation.

Six Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats — Roberts' biggest critics so far — will try one last time on Thursday to elicit his views on a host of legal subjects before ending confirmation hearings on the man President Bush wants to replace the late William H. Rehnquist.

But Democrats expressed little hope of cracking what New York Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer called Roberts' "cone of silence."

"This process is getting a little more absurd the further we move," Schumer groused.

Roberts has successfully sidestepped and parried questions on how he would rule on controversial cases, and committee Republicans were so confident in the 50-year-old judge's ability to emerge unscathed Thursday they've waived any time they could use to help him recover from any potential slip-ups.

"I expect you will be confirmed," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, one of many GOP senators who already have Roberts sized up for the black robes he would don on the Supreme Court.

Minority Democrats sounded unswayed.

Sen. Charles Schumer told Roberts he was "cutting back a little on what you said yesterday," referring to an earlier statement that the Constitution provides a right to privacy.

The New York Democrat made his charge after Roberts declined to cite any examples of disagreement with the opinions of Justice Clarence Thomas on the subject. Thomas has written there is no general right to privacy, a right often viewed as the underpinning of a right to abortion.

CBS News Correspondent Bob Fuss reports Delaware Democrat Joe Biden was frustrated by an inability to get a straight answer from the nominee.

"We are rolling the dice with you," Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., told the 50-year-old appeals court judge, who turned aside questions about abortion, the right to die, the permissibility of torture and other issues he said may come before the court.

CBS News Correspondent Gloria Borger reports that Roberts did give hints on some issues – such as his approval of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's view of affirmative action, which she considered acceptable in some cases

"I do think that is the appropriate approach. You need to look at the real world impact in this area and I think in other areas as well," Roberts said.

Meanwhile, a CBS News/New York Times poll finds more Americans are following the confirmation battle than just a couple of weeks ago: 54 percent say they are following it closely, up from 44 percent two weeks ago.

But most Americans say they can't offer an opinion as to whether or not Roberts should be confirmed: 26 percent say he should be confirmed, while 8 percent say he should not be; 63 percent didn't render an opinion.

Even as Roberts fielded questions, there was fresh evidence of the contentious issues that await him if he is confirmed. There were gasps from the audience when word was relayed from the committee dais that a federal judge in California had ruled the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools was unconstitutional because it includes the words "under God." Roberts was not asked for his opinion.

For the second straight day, Roberts fielded questions calmly, summoning descriptions of past cases from memory. He spiced his testimony with a sense of humor, promising at one point that if confirmed, he would not seek a pay raise "next week."

Republicans projected ever greater confidence that he would soon preside in the grand marble Supreme Court building across the street from the Capitol.

"We need you to bring to the court your compassion and your understanding for the lives of others who haven't been as successful as you have been," said Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, one of several Republicans who spoke as if giving a send-off message to a man about to embark on a new mission.

GOP officials say they are confident of the support of all 10 Republican members of the panel when the committee roll is called on Thursday next week, although it is possible all eight Democrats will oppose him. The full Senate may vote the following week, in time for Roberts to take his seat before the high court opens a new term on Oct. 3.

Officials in both parties say Roberts is likely to receive votes from several Democrats when his nomination reaches the full Senate. Among them are senators who represent Republican-leaning states or those who joined in a bipartisan compromise earlier this year to defuse a threatened showdown over the administration's conservative appeals court judges.

Schumer, who chairs his party's senatorial campaign committee, told reporters after the day's session he doubted the vote would loom as one of the major issues in the 2006 midterm elections.

After finishing with Roberts on Thursday, senators were to hold a closed-door meeting to review his FBI background check, and then hear from outside critics and supporters to try and get a better insight on him.

The American Bar Association also was to testify about the unanimous "well-qualified" rating it gave Roberts last month.