Do you like the idea of government seizing private land from its owner so another one can “improve” it? How about the prospect of government forbidding you from building on your own land if your property develops puddles after heavy rains? Or would you approve judges who overturn state legislatures in the United States so that they comply with court rulings in Europe? And do you think judges should force taxpayers to pay for abortions? If these sound like good ideas, then you’ll like the judges Barack Obama promises to appoint if he becomes president. If these approaches give you the creeps, John McCain deserves a long look because he promises to appoint a different kind of judge.

The truth is that on few bedrock issues do Obama and McCain differ more than on the proper role of federal judges. The Supreme Court justices Obama has held up as models all have indicated support for the positions outlined above. The judges McCain cites as his favorites oppose not only those positions, but also the twisted logic that produces such an  approach to interpreting the Constitution. Put another way, if you like the liberals on the Court – Justices Breyer, Ginsburg, Souter and John Paul Stevens – Obama is your man. If the Court’s conservatives – Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Scalia, Thomas and Alito –  then McCain deserves your vote.