Rehnquist Staying On: A Good Thing for the GOP?

Some think so:

The chief justice has not retired — and says he has no intention to anytime soon. The decision is most honorable — indeed, given his illness, self-less, if not near heroic.

I am certain the chief's statement is much to the relief of the president. It should be of relief to us all, since it lessens what was becoming all too apparent — that every factor in the nomination process was going to use multiple vacancies to politically horse-trade to the ultimate disadvantage of the integrity of the Court. With a single vacancy, it is now possible for president and Senate alike to assess the individual merits of an appointment, without succumbing to the powerful pressures of interest groups which would have sought to balance the "ticket," at the cost of merit.

I disagree. Bundling the nominess make the Dems' opp research much harder to pull off. In addition, obstructing two nominees at once reveals Schumer and Company for the obstructionist weasels they are.

If Rehnquist goes soon, Bush could slam two conservative picks through, aided by the Constitutional Option. That would potentially increase reliably originalist votes on the Court to Scalia, Thomas, Newbie 1, and Newbie 2. Once one of the remaining droolers is dragged off the bench, Bush would have the opportunity to lock in a majority which actually believes in reading the Constitution before opining on "constitutionality".

It'd be a nice change from the incoherence of the Rehnquist court.