Yesterday President Bush nominated conservative Judge Samuel Alito as a candidate for the Supreme Court.

Bush has gone from one extreme to another in regard to his choice for the Supreme Court. Miers was known as a feminist who didn’t have any experience being a judge while Alito has been a federal judge for 15 years on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

It seems as though Bush is catering to his strongly conservative base with the hope that he can win supporters back after the Miers fiasco. By catering to his base, he looks weak and unable to make a strong decision.

He alienates certain regions by not doing what is good for the country, but rather towing the line. It is bad for the Republican Party because, regarding Miers’ nomination, it looks as if Bush’s own party doesn’t support its president. It seems the only way Republicans would support the president would be if he did what they wanted.

Ed Board would like someone who is middle-of-the-road rather than someone who is a staunch conservative be nominated because we would feel underrepresented if this nominee should pass.

Alito was once the only dissenting voice in a Third Circuit ruling striking down a Pennsylvania law that required women to notify their husbands should they decide to have an abortion.

Ed Board feels that having someone as conservative as this in the government will further cause partisanship between the two political parties as well as in the country.

If Alito is confirmed, he would take away one of the moderate, swing votes on the Supreme Court, causing it to be more conservative. This would mean that the Supreme Court would not fully represent the country, but rather a select portion of the nation.

Although Bush is a Republican, he could choose to vote for someone who is moderate to cater to both parties rather than just one. This would also mean that out of nine justices, more than half would be Republicans.

Alito does have the qualifications to be a Supreme Court justice, but he is far too conservative to fully represent the entire nation. What about the liberals and the independents — shouldn’t they get a voice as well?

The Supreme Court should be fairly balanced regarding justices’ political ideology, and Alito’s nomination would further create a divide.