Supreme Court Short List Revealed
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Supreme Court
First Read did some digging and came up with the following names:
- Diane Wood – 7th Circuit
- Merrick Garland – DC Circuit Court of Appeals
- Sonia Sotomayor – 2nd Circuit
- Elena Kagan – Solicitor General
- Jennifer Granholm – Michigan Governor
- Janet Napolitano – Homeland Security Secretary
So who’s realistic?
Well, I think you can count out Sotomayor, Garland and Granholm. The first because there’s been too much negative buzz about her in Dem circles, the second because he’s a man and the third because Granholm isn’t a natural born American citizen and she’s too political.
That leaves Napolitano, Kagan and Wood.
First Read has an idea of who could be the frontrunner…
Keep an eye on Napolitano. For this pick, it would be surprising if Obama named someone he didn’t either know well or trust personally. Wood, Kagan, and Napolitano all fit this bill (Wood taught at the University of Chicago with Obama, and Kagan and Napolitano already have top slots in the administration). As for Napolitano, remember that she endorsed Obama early on (despite Emily’s List pressure to do otherwise). And from people familiar with the president’s thinking, he’s been as impressed with Napolitano as anyone in his cabinet. They click. That matters…”
Personally, I think Napolitano won’t be picked because vacating the Homeland Security spot would give Republicans a very easy way to criticize Obama on national defense.
So my bet is on Kagan because of her background at Harvard law and her affiliation with the University of Chicago. Also, the administration has been hinting that this person would come from a non-traditional avenue, and while that might be a head fake, I think it would rule out Wood.
What do you think?
This entry was posted on Monday, May 11th, 2009 and is filed under Supreme Court. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
May 11th, 2009 at 9:38 pm
Kagen will be on the Supreme Court before Obama leaves office, but my money is still on Sotomayor. Failing that, Wood is the next best choice.
I’m estimating that Obama will have three apointments (possibly four) to the Court before leaving office, so all the choices will have ample opportunity for consideration.
May 12th, 2009 at 5:54 am
Is Granholm’s Canadian birth that big of a stumbling block? There have been foreign-born Justices before, including Frankfurter, whom the left adores to this day.
May 12th, 2009 at 8:21 am
Oh yes. Let’s dismiss all male candidates. Perhaps we ought to dismiss all white folks entirely. Anything less than a two-fer would be grossly inadequate. Ideally, we need a three-four, or even a four-fer.
Let’s forget about judicial excellence as manifested in the writings and rulings of a judge. Of course, we can pay lip service to the importance of that, as long as we carefully insist that it’s not as important as symbolism to cheer identity-based interest groups. If we look carefully enough, I am confident that we can find a handicapped lesbian female judge somewhere. Hopefully one with both Latino and African-American heritage.
Such a person would be the ideal choice. Unless they were pro-life. But hey, no litmus tests or anything.
May 12th, 2009 at 9:33 am
I’m old enough to remember Sandra Day O’Connor being criticized as unqualified. (If I remember correctly, 2 years or less) and then of course, Clarence.
I’ve been watching The American Experience and I think that there could be one hell of a case for a Native American. I think they’d have a strong case that we have never followed the law in regards to our contracts with them. I think we have plenty of pro-Life Catholics.
May 16th, 2009 at 8:17 am
[...] much speculation as to who President Obama will likely nominate to replace retiring Justice Souter, Donklephant commented on this short list from First [...]