A Bipartisan Beginning to Supreme Court Nomination

The President has continued to walk-the-walk after talking the talk on keeping things civil and reasonable in the Supreme Court judicial nomination process. Today, President Bush met with Senate leaders from both parties to discuss potential nominations.

After the meeting, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said, "If the president sends us a consensus nominee, the Senate will confirm them easily. If he sends us a divisive nominee, we will use all procedural tools at our disposal to protect the American people."

Basically, it seems that Reid and the Democrats are willing to let Bush’s nominee through without a bitter fight if Bush is willing to pick someone they can agree to before any announcement is made. Can Bush and the Dems make a deal?

So far, both sides seem to be willing to work together, avoiding the spite that is waiting to pounce from the wings. Perhaps with most of Washington’s approval ratings in the tank, our leaders are waking up to the reality that energizing the base means repulsing the broad middle.

Or maybe it’s all for show so that both sides can later pretend that they tried (really, really tried) to work it out and avoid confrontation.

Let’s hope this show of maturity is real and not just a performance.