Bork Says Thomas Will Win Court Seat : Justices: The former judge says the nomination is the latest battle in the bitter clash between the law and politics.

Robert Bork, the conservative U.S. Supreme Court nominee rejected by the Senate in 1987, predicted on Saturday that nominee Clarence Thomas will face similar unfriendly treatment by Senate liberals, but ultimately will be confirmed for the post.

“The nomination process has become a bloody crossroads where law and politics clash,” Bork said. “. . . Clarence Thomas is the current battlefield in that war.”

Speaking at a gathering of conservatives in Long Beach, Bork told the crowd of about 2,000 that it must make sure Thomas is confirmed, adding that Thomas could provide the fifth vote on the court necessary to overturn Roe vs. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that affirmed abortion rights.

“He has to be confirmed,” Bork said. “Then there may be five votes or more to overrule Roe vs. Wade, which ought to be done no matter what one’s views on abortion are.”

Bork also lauded Thomas, who is black, for his opposition to affirmative-action programs. “Judge Thomas’ views are entirely appropriate for a Supreme Court justice,” Bork said.

Bork, a former federal court judge, was the keynote speaker at the National Conservative Forum, a gathering organized by radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh III. Bork got two standing ovations from the crowd as he lampooned liberal politicians and law school professors.

“Today more than ever before, the law is viewed both as a political prize and as a political weapon,” Bork said. “My own episode is not important in and of itself, but it does illustrate the struggle and mark the turning point in the explicitness with which politics comes into judicial nominations.”

After his speech, Bork told reporters that he is not bitter about his rejection for a Supreme Court spot nearly four years ago.

“I didn’t enjoy it,” Bork said, “and there are some people who have not risen in my estimation, as a result of that episode, but I don’t sit around being bitter about it.”

Bork resigned from the bench in 1988. He has since written a book and joined the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research in Washington.

And he had some advice for Thomas: “He should keep his cool and he shouldn’t let them (senators) pin him down” about how he would vote on the court. “He shouldn’t have to promise those things to the senators.” Bork described Thomas as “a very strong person” and said, “This stuff isn’t going to shake him. . . . I think he’s going to go through fairly easily.”

Senate Judiciary hearings on the nomination of Thomas, 43, are set to begin Sept. 10. He has espoused a conservative judicial philosophy on a range of issues, including affirmative-action programs for minorities, school prayer, abortion and the death penalty.

Thomas was nominated by President Bush to replace Thurgood Marshall, the first black member of the court, who is retiring.