Polar opposites

Election 2008 | When it comes to judicial philosophy, McCain and Obama could not be further apart | Lynn Vincent

Charles Dharapak/AP

Not yet a year into his first U.S. Senate term but eyeballing the Oval Office, Sen. Barack Obama in 2005 found himself with a rare opportunity: to weigh in on the nomination of a chief justice of the Supreme Court. It was a national moment, one that had occurred just 10 times since the year 1900, the most recent when Obama was only 15 years old.

It was also Obama's first chance to reveal his views on the high court's role. And, as he had with his speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, Obama made an audacious debut: "There is absolutely no doubt in my mind Judge [John] Roberts is qualified to sit on the highest court in the land," Obama said. "Moreover, he seems to have the comportment and the temperament that makes for a good judge. He is humble, he is personally decent, and he appears to be respectful of different points of view."