Fact Check: Did Obama vote against Supreme Court Justice Breyer?

Did Obama vote against Supreme Court Justice Breyer and Roberts?.

The Statement:

During a presidential debate Wednesday, Oct. 15, in Hempstead, New York, Republican nominee Sen. John McCain criticized Democratic opponent Sen. Barack Obama's votes on Supreme Court nominees. "Senator Obama voted against Justice Breyer and Justice Roberts on the grounds that they didn't meet his ideological standards," McCain said. "That's not the way we should judge these nominees."

Get the facts!

The Facts:

McCain's statement includes a clear slip of the tongue. Justice Stephen G. Breyer, a nominee of then-President Bill Clinton, was confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court by the Senate in 1994. Obama was elected to the Senate in 2004. McCain campaign spokesman Brian Rogers said McCain meant to refer to Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, who was confirmed in 2006.

Obama voted against both nominees of President Bush. McCain voted in favor of both. Prior to the vote on Alito, Obama issued a statement saying "after a careful review of his record, I simply cannot vote for his nomination." "(I)n examining Judge Alito's many decisions, I have seen extraordinarily consistent support for the powerful against the powerless, for the employer against the employee, for the President against the Congress and the Judiciary and for an overreaching federal government against individual rights and liberties."

In a Senate speech, Obama said the decision to vote against Roberts "was not an easy one for me to make." He said he was impressed with Roberts when the two met, but found that he seemed to side with "those who were dismissive of efforts to eradicate the remnants of racial discrimination in our political process." He added that Roberts "seemed dismissive of the concerns that it's harder making it in this world and in this economy when you're a woman rather than a man."

The Verdict:

False. McCain mistakenly named Breyer, who was confirmed before Obama was elected to the Senate, instead of Alito.