Please, Please Tell Us Now!

Over at Confirm Them (where I also blog), there's an interesting report that the President may name his next Supreme Court nominee before the final vote on John Roberts.

For my money, this would be a stroke of genius. If -- as a result of their opposition to the new nominee -- Democrats decide to oppose Roberts en masse, they risk showing the American people (who, as polls indicate, solidly back Roberts' confirmation) the nakedly partisan nature of their "advice and consent."

If, instead, the Dems decide to support Roberts in order to dramatize their opposition to the pending nominee, well, then they've essentially ratified his pratice of declining to prejudge cases, etc. etc.

Of course, the former phenomenon is more likely than the latter -- because all the left wing special interest groups like PFAW, NOW, etc. can command substantial portions of the Democratic caucus.