WASHINGTON – The chairman of the Senate committee that will oversee hearings on President Bush’s Supreme Court nominee said yesterday he would like to see a moderate in the tradition of retiring Justice O’Connor and perhaps someone with experience in politics.

Senator Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, said he didn’t want to recommend a specific candidate because of his role as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. But he said he would like to see a nominee who has experience outside the judiciary, which would rule out many of the candidates that Mr. Bush is said to be considering.

The candidates mentioned most often are federal appeals court judges: Samuel Alito, Emilio Garza, J. Michael Juttig, John Roberts Jr., Michael McConnell, and J. Harvie Wilkinson III.

Mr. Specter said on “Fox News Sunday” that he would like Mr. Bush to pick “somebody who’s had more experience, somebody who’s been out in the world and has a more varied background.” He said someone who has been in politics might be a good choice.

“I have expressed the view that it would be useful, in my judgment, to have somebody on the court who does not come from the graduates of the courts of appeals,” Mr. Specter said. “When you look back at the court which handed down Brown v. Board of Education unanimously, there was an ex-governor, there were three ex-senators, two attorneys general, a solicitor general, a professor, and somebody from the SEC.”

Mr. Specter encouraged Mr. Bush not to bow to pressure from conservative groups and instead try to preserve the existing ideological balance on the court – meaning that his nominee would be a moderate like Justice O’Connor.

Mr. Bush “stands in a position where he has to put a person on not where the president would be beholden to any group, no matter how much they contributed to his election, but something in the national interest,” Mr. Specter said. “And when you have these very delicate questions, it’s helpful to the country to have somebody who is a swing vote, which maintains the balance.”

Senator Schumer, a New York Democrat and member of the Judiciary Committee, suggested that Mr. Bush ask key senators from both parties about some of the candidates he’s considering. He said that could avoid a contentious confirmation process.

“We know that the president’s nominee is going to be a conservative,” Mr. Schumer said on “Face the Nation” on CBS. “No question. President himself is a conservative. But it can be a Sandra Day O’Connor-type conservative – thoughtful, willing to see the other side, pragmatic. Or it can be someone way, way off the deep end. And I’m hoping that there can be a consensus nominee.”

Mr. Bush gave the nation several clues Saturday about the person he will nominate for a seat on the Supreme Court, except for the most important one – a name. In his weekly radio address, Mr. Bush said his eventual nominee will be a “fair-minded individual who represents the mainstream of American law and American values.”

His candidate also “will meet the highest standards of intellect, character, and ability and will pledge to faithfully interpret the Constitution and laws of our country,” the president said.

“Our nation deserves, and I will select, a Supreme Court justice that Americans can be proud of,” he said.

Mr. Bush also discussed his recent meeting with Senate leaders of both parties to discuss the nomination and confirmation process for a replacement for Justice O’Connor. The first woman to serve on the high court, O’Connor announced July 1 that she is stepping down after 24 years.

Much of the retirement speculation – before and after Justice O’Connor’s surprise announcement – had focused on Chief Justice Rehnquist, who is 80 and ailing with thyroid cancer.

Justice Rehnquist tried to dampen expectations this week, issuing a statement in which he said his retirement is not imminent and that he would continue on the court “as long as my health permits.”