McCain assailed activist judges, saying that his judicial appointees would interpret the law rather than make it

National Review, June 2, 2008

McCain assailed activist judges, saying that his judicial appointees would interpret the law rather than make it. McCain said he would be looking for nominees with a record of restraint; he would not just trust his instincts about them. In other words: no more Souters; no more Mierses. Liberals said that McCain was battling strawmen, since judicial activism is a myth.

Have they met Barack Obama? His announced criteria for judges are rather different from McCain's. "We need somebody who's got the heart, the empathy, to recognize what it's like to be a young teenage mom, the empathy to understand what it's like to be poor or African-American or gay or disabled or old." Empathy for gun owners, or property holders, or corporations, or the unborn does not appear to be something Obama is looking for. If you want judges whose sympathies are with those who have the law on their side, McCain's the better bet.