Bloodless Coup

Well if those groups hate him so much, then he must be doing something right.

Here's the money quote, though:

Although Obama's first nominee may not end Washington's war over judges, Hamilton drew wide praise from lawyers and law professors in Indiana, including the president of the local Federalist Society, a conservative legal group.

"I regard Judge Hamilton as an excellent jurist with a first-rate intellect," said Geoffrey Slaughter, a lawyer in Indianapolis. "He is unfailingly polite to lawyers. He asks tough questions to both sides, and he is very smart. His judicial philosophy is left of center, but well within the mainstream, between the 30-yard lines."

The Federalist Society invited Hamilton to speak at its January meeting in Indianapolis, Slaughter said. In praising the judge, Slaughter said he spoke only for himself, not for the organization.

I know nothing of the judge, but he's almost certainly pretty moderate by any fair definition if any Federalist Society member will speak in his favor. And it's worth noting that, of the two cases cited by the wack jobs as "extreme," one was overruled by the Circuit Court on standing, not on the merits, which means the court in no way disputed his analysis of the underlying issue. And the abortion thing, well, pretty clearly, unless your baseline assumes middle-class teenagers with access to wheels, requiring two visits is an undue burden to someone with a shitty job, dependent on mass transit, in a neighborhood lacking clinics, etc.