Bush's reference to Dred Scott in the second debate was rather strange considering the context in which he used it. Citing Dred Scott to bolster his case for "strict constructionist" Supreme Court Justices made absolutely no sense. Dred Scott was strict constructionism in action.. the language of that opinion is is essentially the definition of "strict constructionism," so why would Bush reference that particular case? There are plenty of actually relevant cases that he could have used to argue against loose constructionism.

Was he just ignorantly spouting off about a case that he didn't understand? Or was it a calculated response?

There is an interesting theory on what Bush was getting at over at Kos.. Basically, the theory is that by mentioning Dred Scott, Bush was using "code language" to signal to his base that he will appoint Supreme Court Justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade, without coming right out and saying it and turning off moderates. The reasoning behind this theory is that, apparently Dred Scott is referenced rather frequently as a comparison to Roe v Wade in anti-abortion literature.

The theory would rather neatly explain his contradictory talking points. Again, Dred Scott was based on strict constructionism, so that case simply didn't fit with what he was talking about when he mentioned it. However, Roe is frequently attacked from a strict constructionist standpoint. And the primary comparison that is made between the two cases in the anti-abortion literature, concerns the definition of what constitutes a 'human with rights' as opposed to 'property' (ie. slavery / part of a woman's body). So when considering that Bush stuck the following statement right smack in the middle of calling for strict constructionist judges: "Another example would be the Dred Scott case, which is where judges, years ago, said that the Constitution allowed slavery because of personal property rights," the cited theory actually makes quite a bit of sense.

Anyway, I thought this was an interesting theory on Bush's baffling invocation of Dred Scott in the context of strict constructionism.