Moderate urged for high court pick

WASHINGTON -- The chairman of the Senate committee that will oversee hearings on President Bush's Supreme Court nominee said yesterday that he would like to see a moderate in the tradition of retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and perhaps someone with experience in politics.

Pennsylvania Republican Senator Arlen Specter said he didn't want to recommend a specific candidate because of his role as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. But he said he would like to see a nominee who has experience outside the judiciary, which would rule out many of the candidates that Bush is said to be considering.

The candidates mentioned most often are federal appeals court judges: Samuel Alito, Emilio Garza, J. Michael Luttig, John Roberts Jr., Michael McConnell, and J. Harvie Wilkinson III.

Specter said on ''Fox News Sunday" that he would like Bush to pick ''somebody who's had more experience, somebody who's been out in the world and has a more varied background." He said someone who has been in politics might be a good choice.

''When you look back at the court which handed down Brown v. Board of Education unanimously, there was an ex-governor, there were three ex-senators, two attorneys general, a solicitor general, a professor, and somebody from the SEC," Specter said.

Specter encouraged Bush not to bow to pressure from conservative groups and instead try to preserve the existing ideological balance on the court -- meaning that his nominee would be a moderate like O'Connor.

New York Democratic Senator Charles Schumer, also a member of the Judiciary Committee, suggested that Bush ask key senators from both parties about some of the candidates he's considering. He said that could avoid a contentious confirmation process.

''We know that the president's nominee is going to be a conservative," Schumer said on ''Face the Nation" on CBS. ''No question. President himself is a conservative. But it can be a Sandra Day O'Connor-type conservative -- thoughtful, willing to see the other side, pragmatic. Or it can be someone way, way off the deep end. And I'm hoping that there can be a consensus nominee."