With news that Supreme Court Chief Justice Rehnquist’s retirement is imminent, Robert Novak started chatter that is getting louder: for President Bush to split the replacements of Rehnquist and O’Connor between one conservative and one liberal – no net gain for anyone; a stalemate; a compromise.
Conservatives say this is unacceptable. Patrick Buchanan says why:

Does Bush get it? He needs three seats to capture the court, that of Chief Justice Rehnquist when he retires, that of O’Connor, now open, and that of one other justice, as long as it is not Antonin Scalia or Thomas.
Bush can succeed where every Republican president in 50 years failed: to rein in this radical and renegade court and restore the Constitution to its rightful place as the highest law in the land: to be interpreted by Supreme Court justices, and not perverted to their own ideological and political ends.
To succeed will take perseverance and courage by President Bush. But if he does, he will leave a mark on history. It will be his greatest domestic achievement, for which his country will forever remember him, his friends will praise him and his enemies will be eternally gnashing their teeth. Let’s get it on.