Hodes: We need a justice like Souter

Rep. Paul Hodes (D-N.H.) on Wednesday lobbied President Obama to appoint someone to the Supreme Court along to lines of Hodes's former boss, Justice David Souter.

In an interview with The Hill, Hodes said the former New Hampshire Attorney General Souter, under whom Hodes served as assistant attorney general, has the right kind of judicial philosophy.

"I thought Justice Souter was a good model, as someone who came in expected to do one thing, but because of his judicial integrity and his understanding of the true role of a judge" turned out well, Hodes said.

Souter was appointed by the first President Bush 20 years ago and has disappointed conservatives by more often siding with the liberal wing of the court.

Hodes, who is running for Senate, said Souter's philosophy was "not the kind of activist Republican political approach that so many of the Bush nominees have adopted."

"He's a conservative Republican who's so conservative he's liberal, because he understands that the constitution protects individual rights as a bulwark against the potential oppressive poswer of the state," Hodes said.

Hodes said he views the constitution as a living document, but that the Supreme Court shouldn't be substituting for the legislature.

Hodes is uncontested in his primary. Another former state Attorney General -- Kelly Ayotte -- is battling a field of opponents on the GOP side.