Rudy Hearts Right-Wing Judges

Rudy Giuliani spent yesterday stumping in Iowa -- not his usual territory. Along the way, he made it quite clear that he intends to govern from the far right. Besides his continued support for a disastrous and deeply unpopular war, besides his opposition to the kind of universal health care favored by a huge majority of Americans, there's his commitment to nominating extremist judges.

That commitment was his primary message yesterday, as he heaped praise on the current Supreme Court's right wing, and insisted that while "the abortion question is not a litmus test," he would only name "strict constructionists" to the Court.

In the speech, he went out of his way to praise the four most conservative members of the current U.S. Supreme Court - Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, and two nominees of President Bush, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito.

"These are the kinds of judges I would appoint," he said, calling them "strict constructionists" who interpret, rather than rewrite, the U.S. Constitution.

The term "strict constructionists" is often used by religious conservatives who say they want judges who will overturn, among other past decisions, the landmark abortion rights ruling Roe vs. Wade.

Religious conservatives may or may not find Rudy's words convincing. But ordinary Americans should be alarmed by it. Following his appointment of a group of hard-right judicial policy advisors, Giuliani's rhetoric in Iowa suggests that he is putting his promise to appoint ultra-conservative judges at the center of his campaign. PFAW's Right Wing Watch sees what's happening:

Giuliani may not be the Right’s favorite candidate, but with no clear front-runner emerging, he appears to be seeking to position himself as the candidate most committed to fundamentally and lastingly shifting the balance on the Supreme Court in favor of the Right – a temptation he hopes just might be enough to weaken the resolve of even his most hardened right-wing foes.

There is no such thing as Rudy Giuliani the moderate.

Cross-posted at The Right's Field.