Dianne Feinstein will vote against confirming John Roberts to the Supreme Court in today's Judiciary Committee tally and again in the full Senate, she announced. Roberts failed to convince her that he would meet her abortion-rights litmus test and therefore lost her support:

Feinstein, the committee's only woman, said her vote was decided after Roberts refused to fully answer her and other Democrats' questions in his confirmation hearing last week.

"I knew as little about what Judge Roberts really thought about issues after the hearings as I did before the hearing. This makes it very hard for me," said Feinstein, an abortion rights supporter.

"I cannot in good conscious cast a 'yea' vote. I will cast a 'no' vote," she said.

That may play well in California, but it underscores that the Democrats play politics with the Supreme Court, and not the GOP. The President did not nominate a litmus-test abortion opponent, like perhaps Michael Luttig, who has written on the poor jurisprudence of Roe v Wade (a view with which liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has publicly agreed). Feinstein's announcement provides further proof that the Democrats seek to impose unpopular policy through judicial fiat rather than through legislation, and that they represent the true threat to the Constitutional checks and balances that keep power in the hands of the people.

No one believes that this will cause any risk to Feinstein's seat in California, where the GOP still operate in such disarray that they will not likely field any candidate that could possibly unseat Feinstein even if she retired first. However, the declarations of Reid and Feinstein opposing such an impressive and obviously qualified candidate like Roberts will provide grist for campaigns in red-state contests, where at least five Democratic Senators will need to defend themselves and their party against the clear trend towards radicalism and knee-jerk partisanship. The more Democrats that fall into this trap, the easier that argument gets.

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