Bush predicts smooth sailing for Souter bid

KENNEBUNKPORT — President Bush on Friday gave David Souter a ride back to New England on Air Force One, saying he was pleased with the nation’s reaction to the little-known Supreme Court nominee and predicting Senate confirmation “with flying colors.”

Bush denied that he had agreed before meeting Souter last Monday not to ask him delicate questions about his views on controversial issues.

Two senators have quoted Souter as saying he had made such a request. But Bush, when asked whether he had made such a deal in advance of interviewing his prospective high court choice, said, “No, nothing on my side on that.”

Meanwhile, Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., D-Del., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, announced the panel will open hearings on Souter’s nomination on Sept. 13.

Souter, after a hectic week in Washington preparing for the confirmation hearings, flew with Bush aboard the presidential aircraft to Pease Air Force Base in New Hampshire, then went his own way while Bush and his wife Barbara flew to Kennebunkport by helicopter to their oceanside summer home.

The laconic Souter briefly appeared in the press cabin aboard Air Force One, but quickly retreated after quipping, “I don’t want to ruin my reputation. I have two words to say — `hi’ and `goodbye.”‘

On the ground, when reporters asked the 50-year-old federal appeals judge how it felt to be back in New Hampshire, he replied, “It feels damn good.” He then drove off with a friend, Tom Rath, and Rath’s twin children, to visit his mother at a retirement community in Concord.

Rath said Souter hopes to visit friends, do his laundry, get some rest and “try to disappear” while digging into a pile of reading in preparation for his confirmation hearings.

Earlier Friday, he continued his get-acquainted meetings with senators, fending off reporters’ questions on specific issues — primarily abortion rights.

“I think, with respect, that that is certainly a question that I’m going to be asked when the time for the confirmation hearing comes, and I think that would be the appropriate place for me to respond,” he said.

Souter also met with Vice President Dan Quayle, who later said the Senate should “avoid rancorous partisanship” and resist arguments of special interest groups that might oppose the nominee.

Quayle said some groups have taken the position that “if we don’t know in advance that Judge Souter is for us on our single issue, we oppose him.” He named no groups.

Bush, answering questions during the flight north, declined to retort to sharp criticisms leveled at him and Souter by Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall in a television interview Thursday on ABC-TV.

Marshall said he had never heard of Souter and said White House Chief of Staff John Sununu appeared to be “calling the shots” on the selection. Of Bush, Marshall said, “It’s said that if you can’t say something good about a dead person, don’t say it. Well, I consider him dead.”

Bush said, “My response is that I have great respect for the Supreme Court and I have no comment on it, none. … I have a very high regard for separation of powers and for the Supreme Court.”

Back in Washington, Senate Republican Leader Bob Dole of Kansas was less reticent, calling Marshall “a very partisan liberal Democrat” and suggesting political views “will also be reflected in his judicial opinions.”

Bush, who nominated Souter on Monday just three days after the retirement of the court’s foremost liberal, William J. Brennan Jr., called reaction to Souter “very favorable so far.”