Sen. John McCain, the certain Republican nominee for president, is not the certain favorite of many conservatives -- which explains what he was doing at Wake Forest University last Tuesday sounding a lot like President Bush on a subject dear to those on the right: judicial appointments.

In a speech, Mr. McCain took aim at liberal "activist" judges, those bogeymen who issue "rulings and opinions on policy questions that should be decided democratically" and "show little regard for the authority of the president, the Congress and the states. ... even less interest in the will of the people."

He pledged to appoint judges who will understand the "clear limits to the scope" of judicial and federal power, citing among his ideals Bush appointees Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. For good measure, he criticized Democratic hopefuls Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

The stereotype of liberal activist judges is not without its real-life models, but the idea that only liberals are activist is ridiculous. After all, the most activist Supreme Court decision in recent memory was the utterly partisan one that gave George W. Bush victory in the 2000 election with little regard for the will of the people.

As for the Roberts court, the right-wing tilt has been noticeable and worrisome. While so far Roe v. Wade remains intact -- the real target of those who speak of activist judges -- the supposedly circumspect new justices have been throwing their judicial weight around.

In the legal equivalent of straining out gnats and swallowing camels, the court found a way to deny justice to a sympathetic victim of gender discrimination (Lilly Ledbetter), told public school districts that they can no longer seek or maintain integration by taking account of a student's race and overturned the prevailing understanding of how police can come in and search a person's home.

Activist judges? John McCain is ready to supply some of his own in the manner of President Bush. This may make the far right happy. Everyone else should be alarmed.