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The Spectacle Blog
Jake Tapper reports: “President Obama has a list of less than 10 possible nominees — Solicitor General Elena Kagan, Judge Diane Wood, and Judge Merrick Garland are on the list, sources say — to review.”
Judge Diane Wood of the Seventh Circuit is the rockstar of the liberal bench; see Jeffrey Rosen’s endorsement of her in The New Republic last year to get an idea of how much liberals like her. But Wood is 59, which by the standards of recent nominations is a little on the old side (presidents have made a habit lately of nominating younger jurists, the better to shape the Court for decades to come). Plus, she has a record that could stir up controversy in an election year.
DC Circuit Court Judge Merrick Garland is often cited by conservatives as the best nominee one could hope for from Obama. It seems unlikely, though, that Obama would resort to a nominee as moderate as Garland just yet. The Democrats still have 59 seats in the Senate, after all, at least for the moment.
That leaves Elena Kagan. She’s young (she’ll be 50 later this month), she’s well-respected, and as a Solicitor General, not a judge, she doesn’t have much of a paper trail to stir up controversy. Tom Goldstein of SCOTUSblog has written that given all this she “deserves the title ‘prohibitive front runner.’” (That link may not work — SCOTUSblog has been slammed with traffic since the Stevens announcement and has been down a lot today.)
There are some wildcard options I haven’t mentioned, but if you’re betting, bet on a Kagan nomination.
View all comments (40) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by John Tabin
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Chris| 4.9.10 @ 2:26PM
You think so? Garland's from Chicago. Wood is from Chicago. As was Stevens.
As with much else in this administration, Cook County will win out.
Sam| 4.10.10 @ 8:56PM
Chris,
If you think Obama will choose his nominee based on favoritism for people from Chicago, then you don't know what you're talking about. There's much more at stake in this nomination so do yourself a favor and do a little reading before you say anymore stupid things.
Pingback| 4.9.10 @ 2:30PM
Replacing Stevens links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 4.9.10 @ 2:51PM
The Shortlist To Replace Stevens links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 4.9.10 @ 3:34PM
Merrick Garland links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
victor| 4.9.10 @ 5:25PM
Cass Sunstein would be a good choice, but it would interrupt his one man show on Broadway playing Dr. Dolittle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....re=related
Peter Singer will play the part of the wounded duck.
Oldefarte| 4.10.10 @ 1:23PM
Whoever it ends up being will be a flaming RADICAL!!!!!
Sam| 4.10.10 @ 8:58PM
Oldefarte- I know you can read. That's why I'm at a loss to explain why you didn't read what was said in the article. Martin Garrick and Elena Kagan are MODERATES who are RESPECTED BY CONSERVATIVES. Perhaps your old age is affecting you.
Purpleguy| 4.10.10 @ 9:54PM
Let's hope it's a flaming liberal to put the brakes on this conservative activist Court that has no problem ignoring Court precedence and independence. The Roberts Court is the most activist Court since the Warren Court ... What happened to conservative's desire for strict constructionist and strict Constitutionalism? A corporation is a person ... give me a break .. even a 5 year old would know better.
johncarcar | 7.28.11 @ 8:16AM
Castles n camera Productions is a Jaipur based Shooting Handlers in Rajasthan having base at Jaipur and regular offices at Udaipur , Jodhpur , Jaisalmer , Bikaner , Mandawa & Pushkar .
http://www.rajasthanshooting.com/
johncarcar | 7.28.11 @ 8:26AM
Castles n camera Productions is a Jaipur based Shooting Handlers in Rajasthan having base at Jaipur and regular offices at Udaipur , Jodhpur , Jaisalmer , Bikaner , Mandawa & Pushkar .
http://www.rajasthanshooting.com/