One of the most (superficially) persuasive arguments I keep reading for supporting McCain is that several seats on the Supreme Court will, almost surely, become vacant during the next President's term in office. McCain, it is said, will appoint conservative Justices, whereas Hillary (or Obama) will appoint liberal Justices.

But, why believe this? There is no evidence for this. McCain clearly does not believe in conservative jurisprudence. After all, this is the man who is responsible for the biggest roll-back of constitutional rights in living memory. McCain will not appoint anyone who disagrees with him on McCain-Feingold.

McCain would be hard-pressed to identify a candidate for the Supreme Court who both agrees with him on restrictions of political speech and thinks Roe v. Wade is constitutionally wrong. A McCain victory would almost certainly seat two or three or even four more Justices with careers stretching ahead for years who believe in penumbras and the living, breathing, evolving Constitution. That is the only way his McCain-Feingold abridgment of free speech rights would stand.