Take Bush at his word

This article makes a good point. I don't know much about John Roberts, Bush's nominee for U.S. Supreme Court, but I do know, as Bruce Ackerman points out, that Bush did say he would look to nominate someone in the Scalia or Thomas mold to the court. Even though it is often hard to do, Ackerman recommends that senators take Bush at his word when it comes to his nominee:

The president has repeatedly promised us justices like Clarence Thomas or Antonin Scalia, and I propose to take him at his word. If we simply take the trouble to read their opinions, it becomes evident that a Court dominated by Thomases and Scalias would launch a constitutional revolution on a scale unknown since the New Deal.

The Senate should also take the president seriously. Bush has already told us the kind of justices he wants, and if he has had a last-minute change of heart, it should be up to individual nominees to convince us that they are not in the Thomas-Scalia mold.