«If he is a Rehnquist, that would not be a cause for exultation in my book, but it would not be a cause for alarm. The court's balance will not be altered. But there is a reasonable danger that he will be like Justice Thomas, the most radical justice on the Supreme Court. It is not that I am certain that he will be a Thomas, it's not even that it's more than 50 percent, but the risk that he might be a Thomas and the lack of any reassurance that he won't, particularly in light of this president's professed desire to nominate people in that mold, is just not good enough. I hope he will not be a Justice Thomas but the risk is too great to bear.»

«This nomination certainly raises the stakes in making sure that the American people and the Senate know Judge Roberts' views fully before he assumes perhaps the second most powerful position in the Unites States.»

«I think you've answered some questions, but not a whole lot of others,»

«It's no secret that the manufacturing industry has been getting killed.»

«little guy ... that he will be a lawyer's lawyer without an ideological agenda.»

«If ever there was a time that cried out for consensus, the time is now.»

«The Bush administration, with its doctrinal commitment to unfettered deregulation, has insisted that this situation can be resolved by allowing the states and utility industry to deal with it by themselves,»

«Truth be told, though our economy operates in the Information Age, our power grid functions more like something from the Stone Age, ... We must act to change this now in the energy bill that is before the Congress.»

«That is clearly not true,»

«I think his confirmation is hardly a done deal. I think lots of us are going to look at the hearings and look at what he says to us about what kind of attorney general he will be. He is far and away the most troubling of all the choices,»