Charles Schumer was apparently so ticked off by not being able to bust Judge Roberts on ideological issues that he and Diane Feinstein indulged in a public griping session in the elevator after the hearing. It has long been Schumer's goal to make judicial nominees have to answer ideological questions and commit to what they would support when on the bench. He failed. And he knows it.

Ever since George W. Bush's election, Schumer has been planning how to force nominees to take broad policy positions. In his elevator conversation with Feinstein, Schumer grumbled that Roberts was getting away with incorrectly claiming he was following precedent set by liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in her confirmation hearing (though in private conversation last week, Ginsburg disagreed with Schumer).

Schumer may be the Senate Judiciary Committee's best lawyer, but Roberts is an even a better one. "If this were a fight, the referee would have stopped it," Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham told me in assessing the Schumer vs. Roberts confrontation. Beyond their legal duel, the outcome should set a new standard for Supreme Court confirmations. It is unlikely any future nominee can be drawn into an inquest of their policy positions.

A relatively junior senator just beginning his second term, Schumer has been out front seeking to determine who will serve on the Supreme Court. Four years ago, he propounded an issues test and has not deviated in assessing nominees for lower federal courts. Schumer has been against confirmation of every Bush appointee with any significant opposition. He opposed cloture on all 16 nominees blocked by filibuster, and said "no" on all eight brought to a vote.

Judge Roberts was especially effective in explaining that judges were not political candidates and should not make promises to senators in confirmation hearings that would then bind them when they heard a case.

And so Roberts will be confirmed and there will be a firm template. I'm sure that the people who helped Judge Roberts prepare and who ran all the practice sessions for his testimony will work with the next nominee. They will follow the "Roberts rules" of what can be testified to in a confirmation hearing. And Chuck Schumer's grand plan to make ideology a criteria for confirmation will enter its final well-deserved resting place in the garbage heap.