The vote was 10-8 the day President Bush nominated him, the vote was 10-8 when the hearings began, the vote was 10-8 yesterday, and the vote is 10-8 today.

You don't have to be a clone of Judge Roberts.

[Conservative allies will press the White House to pick another Roberts.] He's a perfect fulfillment of the president's promise, ... There's great happiness with him. If there were another Judge Roberts out there, or the closest thing, I think that would be perfect.

Bombs could be falling on the White House and that's what she would say.

Justice Thomas, my old boss, got 52 votes. Justice (Antonin) Scalia got 98 votes, ... But Justice Thomas is no less a justice than Justice Scalia. They have the same vote on the court.

I'm hoping and expecting the president will stay on track as he has been in the past five years because it's succeeding now better than it ever has before. Why in heaven's name would you reverse course?

The vote shows that a strong, unapologetic, judicial conservative in the mold of Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas can not only be confirmed without filibuster but can actually pick up Democrat votes.

It sounds like the president has an interesting range of candidates before him. Which one of them he'll settle on no one knows, but we do know he has promised nominees who represent his judicial philosophy like Justices [Antonin] Scalia and [Clarence] Thomas. No president in recent memory has done such a great job of choosing jurists who are faithful to the Constitution.

The president will probably just stick with the formula that has served him so well over five years of judicial selections, including the choice of Chief Justice John Roberts. That is to pick a nominee with sterling legal credentials, weighty judicial experience and a transparent public record.