More on McCain and the Supreme Court

Prominent Federalist Society member, Steven Calabresi, and his colleague at Northwestern Law School, John McGinnis, are backing John McCain as the best chance the conservative movement has against the "living constitution" crowd. Simply put, McCain is more electable than Romney, and is bound to nominate judges head and shoulders better than either Democrat. Here's the thrust of their argument:

We make no apology for suggesting that electability must be a prime consideration. The expected value of any presidential candidate for the future of the American judiciary must be discounted by the probability that the candidate will not prevail in the election. For other kinds of issues, it may be argued that it is better to lose with the perfect candidate than to win with an imperfect one. The party lives to fight another day and can reverse the bad policies of an intervening presidency.

The judiciary is different. On Jan. 20, 2009, six of the nine Supreme Court justices will be over 70. Most of them could be replaced by the next president, particularly if he or she is re-elected. Given the prospect of accelerating gains in modern medical technology, some of the new justices may serve for half a century. Even if a more perfect candidate were somehow elected in 2012, he would not be able to undo the damage, especially to the Supreme Court.

They conclude:

Conservative complaints about Mr. McCain's role as a member of the Gang of 14 seem to encapsulate all that is wrong in general with conservative carping over his candidacy. It makes the perfect the enemy of the very good results that have been achieved, thanks in no small part to Mr. McCain, and to the very likely prospect of further good results that might come from his election as president.

Read the whole thing here.

UPDATE: The Federales have the leading candidates posting their thoughts on judicial appointments here.