I think John Roberts always was the front-runner for the Rehnquist seat. I would guess that Roberts has been the choice for some time. The only curve was that O'Connor was the person (to retire), not Rehnquist.

The death of chief justice Rehnquist and the president's nomination of John Roberts raises the stakes for the court and the American people exponentially.

Confirming John Roberts would endanger much of the progress made by the nation in civil rights over the past half century.

I think, actually, if you want to know where Roberts is on a lot of stuff, Rehnquist is a good place to start,

It's hard to imagine a choice more similar to Chief Justice Rehnquist than John Roberts. They both love the law and they both are among a handful of the most intellectually accomplished legal minds.

I knew in advance what they were going to say about John Roberts. They were going to say that he was a threat to these rights. That he was out of the mainstream, and they said that before they had ever researched his record. Doesn't matter.