PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, July 14, 2009 Host Jim Lehrer
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/law/july-dec09/sotoanalysis_07-14.html
I think all the Supreme Court nomination hearings that we’ve seen over the last 10 to 12 years always have this subtext of, what is the two or three or four different views of the interpretation of the Constitution? And they are more than confirmation hearings. They are sort of garnering support for one particular view of how the Constitution should be interpreted by the Supreme Court, the narrow, originalist view, or the more expansive view. And, in some ways, the senators on both sides played to their base, and—as many have said—it is political theater that goes beyond the qualifications of the nominee.