Feinstein could sway Roberts vote [View All]

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On Monday morning, Roberts is to meet with Feinstein in her Senate office. The courtesy call, part of the White House charm campaign that now accompanies judicial nominations, will not be their first encounter.
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Feinstein, to be sure, is not exactly a full-time maverick. While she supported Roberts two years ago, so did five other Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee. She stuck with Democratic leaders in opposing high-profile judicial nominees like Patricia Owen, recently confirmed as an appellate judge after a long delay. She did not join the so-called "Gang of 14" senators who struck out on their own to negotiate an end to most judicial filibusters.

Taken as a whole, moreover, Feinstein's voting record tracks fairly closely to many of her fellow Democrats. She received a 100 percent voting score from the liberal Americans for Democratic Action last year, and a 78 percent rating from the American Civil Liberties Union.
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It's also easy to predict at least part of the role that Feinstein will play in any Judiciary Committee hearing. The only woman on the 19-member committee, and one of the few non-lawyers, she consistently presses nominees about the abortion rights guaranteed under the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/nation/story/13289587p-14131872c.html