Wiston-Salem (North Carolina): Republican John McCain criticised Democrat Barack Obama for voting against a conservative judge as Supreme Court chief justice, reaching out to the Christian right on one of their chief concerns: the proper role of judges in government.

Conservatives believe federal judges have upset the constitutional balance of power among the courts, the Congress and the presidency by making far-reaching decisions, such as one in 2005 that let cities seize people's homes to make way for shopping malls.

"My nominees will understand that there are clear limits to the scope of judicial power, and clear limits to the scope of federal power," McCain said in a speech at Wake Forest University.

McCain, the Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting, promise to appoint judges who, in the mold of Chief Justice John Roberts and Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, he says would interpret the law strictly to curb the scope of their rulings.

While McCain did not mention abortion, the far right understands that such nominees would be likely to limit the 173 Roe v Wade decision that widely legalised abortion across the United States.

Obama, on the other hand, voted against Roberts and Alito. So did Obama's rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton, but McCain stayed focused on Obama. The Bush appointee was confirmed by the Senate on a vote of 78 to 22 in 2005. All the Republicans voted for Roberts, while the Democrats were split 2 to 22.

Source : PTI