Illinoisans are lucky...

...to be represented by the two best Senators in the U.S. Senate, Dick Durbin and Barack Obama. One reason I am a big fan of Obama is that I always get very encouraging response letters from him. I sent him an e-mail to encourage the Senate to conduct a scrupulous hearing on John Roberts, nominee for the Supreme Court.

Obama wrote this in part of his response:

Judge Roberts' advocates point to his sterling academic and professional credentials as justification for his confirmation. My standard is to assure that any Supreme Court nominee will respect the constitutionally protected rights of individuals and resist the temptation to substitute personal ideology for legal reasoning in court rulings.

The Senate should not, however, allow an impressive resume and admirable personal story to supersede those fundamental considerations.

I'm glad that Obama, who has a good resume himself, realizes that's not the end-all be-all of a nominee.