John Roberts is now Chief Justice John Roberts:
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Judge John Roberts was easily confirmed Thursday to be the 17th chief justice of the United States, winning Senate approval with a solid majority.
He is expected to be sworn in to the post later in the day.
The 78-22 vote ended a nearly three-month roller coaster ride for the 50-year-old federal appeals judge.
He was originally nominated to fill the vacancy created by the pending retirement of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. But following the death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist September 3, Roberts was quickly named by President Bush to take over the court’s top spot.
All 55 Republicans were united in their support. They were joined by 22 Democrats and one independent senator. Twenty-two Democrats voted no.
In an unusual break from tradition, senators voted from their seats as their names were called. Lawmakers usually are free to mill about the floor or leave the chamber.
The vote was never in doubt, despite misgivings from some Democrats that Roberts would be too conservative.
“I hope I am proven wrong about John Roberts,” said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, in a floor speech before the vote. “I have been proven wrong before on my confirmation votes. I regret my vote to confirm Justice Scalia, even though he too, like Judge Roberts was a nice person and a very smart Harvard lawyer.”
Kennedy was also among five Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee to vote against Roberts. Others voting in opposition included Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, Dianne Feinstein of California and Evan Bayh from Roberts’ home state of Indiana.
Democrats voting yes included Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Ron Wyden of Oregon and Max Baucus of Montana.
So Democrats were split enough that the entire party can’t be labeled as having opposed Roberts.
But if you read this one thing stands out: the vote will be most troublesome to Hillary Clinton, who has been burnishing her credentials as a centrist. On one hand, the vote will endear her to Democratic activists who have urged party bigwigs to take a strong stand against Roberts. But, on the other, it’s going to give GOPers ammunition to define her in future races as someone who talks like she’s in the center but is either mentally in synch with or actively appealing to the party’s more liberal wing.
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Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.