What's in a name?

Here's the headline from the San Francisco Chronicle's online cover story about Alito's nomination:

Today, President Bush nominated conservative judge Samuel Alito to replace moderate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

Just out of curiosity, do you think they could have said "Today, President Bush nominated judge Samuel Alito to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor?" The labels are interesting, since there really shouldn't be such labels associated with Judges at all. I mean, if this were a run for office, or something where they are identified with their party affiliations ("she's a registered Greenie," or "he's a registered Republican") that would make sense. Or if they spoke about their judicial philosophies: "she's an incremental activist and he's a strict constructionist, or orginalist" would also make sense. But in the context of this announcement, those labels are gratuitous and, when really analyzed, meaningless.