Does anybody have a good idea of what the political prospects are for First Circuit nominee William Smith? He was once chief of staff for Chafee; does that make him more acceptable to Dems, or does it mean that Whitehouse will block him because his Whitehouse's campaign against Chafee got pretty nasty? I'm all for getting confirmed ANY nominee actually chosen by the Bush White House, even if they aren't sperb conservatives.A secondary consideration: Does that seat "belong" to Rhode Island? If not, and if Smith has no chance because Rhode Island Dems won't allow him through with their blue slips, is there a chance a New Hampshire nominee could be put forth and confirmed instead? Somebody like recently confirmed U.S. District Judge Joseph LaPlante comes to mind; he was confirmed with no opposition, and with very nice words from Leahy; and he is apparently a good law-and-order guy, a longtime prosecutor.What I am thinking is for the summer, after the Conrad/Matthews/Keisler things have played out (in whichever way they do play out), the goal should be to help the Dems get closer to the appropriate number of appellate confirmations by giving them noncontroversial folks like Agee, the Virginia Conrad, and either WIlliam Smith or a substitute like LaPlante.read more
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