this, remember, is replacing a conservative justice scalia with, obviously, another conservative. what the conservative groups really hoped for is to get one of the seats of somebody who is going to retire soon, and they wonder when that s anthony kennedy, and they hope by putting neil gorsuch on the court, doesn t make kennedy think, uh-oh, there goads the neighborhood. i better stay. nina, in your view, is this net-net, unchanged, status quo, basically going from scalia to gorsuch if confirmed? i m sure there s some issues on which they disagree and would have different outcomes, but, basically, this is a conservative seat that will be occupied by a conservative if he s confirm, and if he s not confirmed, they ll name another conservative this is going to be a conservative seat. pete is right, though.
why are they happy tonight? two reasons they wanted him chosen. first of all, they think he s the most ga legal like, if that s the right term, of the nominee. like scalia s approach to the law, statutes based on what the words say, that the constitution should be looked at based on what founders meant. that s in the scalia mold. a persuasive writer, opinions clear, readable, and dare i say entertaining. doesn t have the rough edges scalia did. from the judicial philosophy, they like him. he s been a standup guy on religious liberty, important to conservatives. there s a second reason here, brian. the fact is he mentioned that he had clerked for justice anthony kennedy. justice kennedy went to denver when he was sworn in, so he s friendly person for justice kennedy, and the conservative groups are really looking for the next chess move.
our political analyst, nicole wallace, former communications director, of course, in the bush 43 white house. pete, home field advantage, you go first. what s expected of this jurist. why were supreme court kind of conservative groups hoping that he would be named? why are they happy tonight? two reasons they wanted him chosen. first of all, they think he s the most ga legal like, if that s the right term, of the nominee. like scalia s approach to the law, statutes based on what the words say, that the constitution should be looked at based on what founders meant. that s in the scalia mold. a persuasive writer, opinions clear, readable, and dare i say entertaining. doesn t have the rough edges scalia did. from the judicial philosophy, they like him. he s been a standup guy on
an 11th hour exclusive, chris christie is here with us to talk about the president s supreme court selection and the chaotic first days of this administration. the 11th hour starts right now. good evening again from our head quarters in new york city. tonight, a 49-year-old federal judge from denver gorsuch nominated to serve, it s 12 days into the new presidency, coming in the middle of a huge fight over other nominees and over the rollout of a travel ban into this country. the nomination comes after president obama s nominee was turned away, not given a hearing by the senate even though justice scalia died almost one year ago creating the vacancy. gorsuch is the son of ronald reagan s controversial head of the epa.