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.Wade.Theylobbied President George H.W.Bush to support an unambiguousconservative such as Clarence Thomas to secure their support dur-ing his upcoming reelection bid.4 Similarly, in 1993 pro-choice groupstook for granted that President Clinton would nominate a pro-choiceadvocate for the bench.Groups drive presidents toward constituency choices to furthergroup policy goals.In turn, presidents respond, because of theirdependence on these groups to achieve their own goals.Presidentswho pursue a consensual rather than a constituency approach to jus-tice picking run the risk of alienating key group support, not only forthe confirmation process but also for other presidential policy initia-tives in the future, or even for reelection.Clearly, presidents do notalways subscribe to group interests, but failure to do so could harm apresident in a number of ways.Yet, in certain situations constituency choices clearly are not inthe best interest of presidents.When the opposition party controls theSenate, constituency choices have diminished prospects for victory.Or the president may not wish to endure a protracted conflict over anominee, particularly when the president has other agenda interestsand does not wish to expend valuable political capital.However, the decision to opt for a consensual nominee, causedby a president s need to get an individual confirmed, can be takenas betrayal by groups.They need to be appeased to support consen-sual nominees.For example, Anthony Kennedy s nomination didnot excite conservative groups.However, with his earlier unsuccess- new roles for external players 109ful nominations of constituency choices Robert Bork and DouglasGinsburg Reagan had demonstrated his willingness to pursue theconstituency route and satisfy conservative groups.Similarly, DavidSouter s nomination engendered only lukewarm support from con-servative groups, who knew little about the New Hampshire judge.Bush Chief of Staff John Sununu sought to reassure them that Souterwas one of them.Nominating Candidates to the PresidentGroups play a critical role in suggesting a short list of candidates forpresidential consideration.They are actively involved in feeding theadministration lists of possible nominees.In addition, those candidatesinitiated by the administration typically are vetted through variousgroups.That vetting is abetted by the fact that many of those who sitin White House or Justice Department political appointee posts havebeen recruited from interest groups traditionally allied with the party:For the Democrats, examples include women s groups, pro-choicegroups, labor, and racial and ethnic groups, and for the Republicans,business groups, the pro-life movement, and the religious right.Group representatives serve in administration positions wherethey hold responsibility for vetting judicial nominees.For example, inthe Clinton administration, Ricki Seidman served as deputy commu-nications director in the White House, while Melanne Verveer heldthe post of deputy chief of staff in the Office of the First Lady.Bothwere former staffers at People for the American Way.During the George W.Bush administration, social conservativegroups offered names of conservative judges for presidential consid-eration, such as Justice Thomas for a possible chief justice vacancy.5Similarly, during the Clinton administration, women s groups con-tributed names of potential female nominees, including federal appel-late judges Patricia Wald, Judith Kaye, and Amalya Kearse.For a timeduring one selection process, Clinton administration vetters werepublicizing the names of several female state supreme court juristswhose names had been recommended by women s groups. 110 electing justiceScreening Candidates on the President s Short ListPresidents usually begin the selection process with a relatively largenumber of potential nominees.For example, in 1993 Bill Clintonstarted with 42, although he later admitted only seven were seriouslyin play.The selection process is culling names down to a single one
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