On Fox News' Dayside with Linda Vester, Fox News “Supreme Court Analyst” C. Boyden Gray said that it is “our job” to make sure that whomever President Bush chooses to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the U.S Supreme Court is not “vilified by the left.” Though Vester did not mention it, Gray is the chairman of the Committee for Justice, a group he founded in consultation with White House senior adviser Karl Rove to build public support for the confirmation of Bush's judicial nominations. In addition to Dayside, Gray appeared on Fox News numerous times on July 1, including during the 11 a.m., 12 p.m., and 2 p.m. ET hours of Fox News Live, to discuss O'Connor's retirement.
From the July 1 edition of Fox News' Dayside with Linda Vester:
VESTER: I was just polling people in the audience about who they think the president is likely to pick and who they'd like to see, what characteristics they would like to see. So let's just let you hear from some members of the audience. What do you think, sir?
AUDIENCE MEMBER: I think the president will pick a pretty strong conservative, which will tend to have a polarizing effect on the whole process.
VESTER: What do you think?
AUDIENCE MEMBER: I think he should pick a centrist, because the centrist would be less predictable and less polarizing. But I don't think that's what's going to happen.
VESTER: Boyden, your assessment?
GRAY: Well, I think the president will pick someone who, as he put it in his press conference this morning, someone will interpret and not make up the law. Now if that, in this gentleman's view, is someone who is a conservative so be it. But I think that's what the president is going to do. And I don't think that the individual who just spoke is going to find the nominee to be someone offensive. I think it will be a person of the highest caliber who will command respect across the board unless vilified by the left, and our job is to try to help to make sure that doesn't happen.
VESTER: Thank you, C. Boyden Gray, former White House counsel.