Will Obama put conciliation above partisanship?

Tony Perkins, Family Research Council Action, urges Obama to live up to his campaign rhetoric...

Obama's Judgment Call

The President-elect claims to be a conciliator; he wants to cross the political aisle and "bring America together." Barack Obama has the perfect opportunity to take the first step on this journey.

When George W. Bush took office, he, too, wanted to act in a bipartisan manner, and he did so by renominating two of President Clinton's choices for the federal courts of appeals. Obama should do the same, and a good choice would be to re-nominate Peter Keisler to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Senate failed to act on Keisler, though no one could come up with a reason to oppose him. He is a distinguished attorney, widely respected for his able service as Acting Attorney General. A graduate of Yale Law School, who was an officer with the Yale Law Journal, he clerked on the court to which he has been nominated.

Will President-elect Obama truly work "to bring America together" or were such promises just political rhetoric?