They called on the president to nominate a consensus moderate, someone ideologically and judicially close to Justice O'Connor.
But Bush, though he expressed doubt that the White House would nominate a "consensus pick," also said that the President "has every right to nominate Supreme Court Justices," adding, "I'm an Article II guy".
Perhaps President Trump will do as Obama did and nominate a consensus nominee... but it seems unlikely.
The Republican presidential nominating process was crafted by the RNC to quickly nominate a consensus candidate with broad general election appeal.
Worryingly for investors, Mr. Putin nominated a confidante despite a consensus among global economic policy planners that countries with independent central bankers tend to do better economically over the long term.
Merkel, meanwhile, said she shared some of Cameron's concerns and promised a review of how the president is nominated, a process that normally requires consensus among member states.
So nominating a "consensus" candidate would actually result in the least amount of party unity of any of these choices, since doing so would anger not only the Trump supporters but also the Cruz supporters -- which, added up, roughly equal at least two-thirds of the Republican base who voted in the primaries.
Mr. Kos nominated a Klimt saxophone.
Nearly all respondents nominated a domain that reflected physical status.
In a move to break the deadlock, Monrovia Mayor Bob Bartlett, president of the California League of Cities, nominated Monrovia Councilwoman Lara Blakely as "a consensus candidate". After much argument, the mayors allowed Blakely to enter the race, but several Soto supporters, including Long Beach Mayor Ernie Kell, walked out.
