Wood Vaults Atop SCOTUS Rankings

[usregimechange]

I have shuffled my rankings a bit, moving Judge Diane Wood to the top of my list. The reasons include the news that Judge Wood was the first SCOTUS candidate to meet with President Obama and reports that the White House is especially impressed with her display of intellectual power and judicial temperament in 14 years on the federal appellate bench. Wood's judicial record has won the respect of conservative as well as liberal colleagues and many other experts as well.

I emphasize, again, that these rankings do not reflect my personal preferences, but rather my educated guesses as to which prospects seem most likely to win the nomination. I also stress that such guesses are no more scientific than handicapping horse races. Those who know the president's thinking on this don't talk, and those who talk don't know.

Moving Elena Kagan from first to second, for example, is no reflection on her other than the fact that for all her assets, she has not been a judge and therefore has not had the same opportunity as Diane Wood to compile an outstanding record on the bench...

Here are the new rankings:

1. Diane Wood
2. Elena Kagan
3. Janet Napolitano
4. Jennifer Granholm
5. Sonia Sotomayor
6. Vanessa Ruiz
7. Leah Ward Sears
8. Valerie Jarrett
9. Pam Karlan
10. Merrick Garland

http://ninthjustice.nationaljournal.com/2009/05/wood-vaults-to-top-of-scotus-r.php

[Unsane]

1. And she's all of 10 years younger than the person she's replacing.

:crazy:

Dems never do this right.

[blue_onyx]

2. She's not the pick...at least not yet

So no need to worry. I think Obama will pick a non-judge, like Kagan or Granholm,(Granholm is my guess).

[ShadowLiberal]

4. Agreed, Justice Thomas has been on the court for over 16 years and is 60 now, she's almost 60 now

:banghead:

I can't believe the Obama administration seems to be seriously considering nominating someone who's just a year or two away from being 60 years old to the supreme court. Not only that but a LOT of names getting suggested are 55 or older. Why can't we get someone who was as young as Clarance Thomas when he was nominated to be the court?

Seriously people, assume the worst, what if Obama serves 2 terms in the WH, then the GOP somehow wins the next 3 presidential elections in a row, that would put Wood at nearly 80 years old. Lets be realistic here, when you get that old you tend to get more vulnerable to a whole bunch of diseases that could end your life. A lot of people don't live to be 80, that's just the way it is.

The worst thing in the world would be not 5, but 6 or more radical conservative judges controlling the Supreme Court for decades. With Justice Kennedy likely to retire under a republican we need to be especially careful. We need someone young enough to serve a decade or two on the court, and then retire at the right time, when a liberal president will replace them with another liberal young liberal judge.

[Unsane]

10. "Why can't we get someone who was as young as Clarance Thomas when he was nominated to be the court?

This is a good question. Thomas was sort of groomed for the SCOTUS when he was originally placed on the DC Circuit in 1990. He was elevated just a year later. Obama needs to do this with a youngish, brilliant academic. There are plenty out there.

[Thrill]

3. I think it will be Kagan or a woman no one has even mentioned

.

[StevieM]

5. Unfortunately, I don't think he will pick Pam Karlan. I am now hoping for Teresa Wynn Roseborough

eom

[OmahaBlueDog]

6. I stand by my original prediction: Kim Wardlaw

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_McLane_Wardlaw

She's a Clinton nominee. She's 54. She's a Californian. She's Mexican-American on her Mom's side. A review of her key decisions seems to indicate that she's on the moderate side of the liberal spectrum.

[CTyankee]

12. I keep coming back to her, too. For some reason she just seems to "fit."

But who knows? The only pick for anything that I guessed correctly was Joe Biden for Veep, but then only because he was ALWAYS on the list and his foreign policy experience was a balance for Obama, and eventhen it only became clear to me that he'd be the pick late in the process...

[OmahaBlueDog]

13. I agree she has all of the attributes. If certainly could be Wood. I don't think it will be....

a) Granholm: I know she gets a lot of buzz, but she's not wildly popular as Governor from what I'm told, and Obama will take a lot of heat for nominating an executive with no judicial experience. Plus, her state is in crisis, and it will be argued this is no time to break in a new governor.

b) Valerie Jarrett: He needs her too much as an advisor right now...plus, the right will equate it to the Harriet Meiers pick by Bush (not that it's an apt comparison, or even matters).

c) Hillary: He needs her as SecState, and her age would be a consideration.

A shrewd pick would be either Olympia Snowe or Susan Collins. Neither are lawyers, but both are known as social moderates-liberals, and (with a Democratic Governor in Maine), we'd pick up yet another Senate seat.

[jeanpalmer]

7. Obama will go with the safe pick --

Granholm. He will show his bipartisanship. He doesn't want to get involved in a brawl. Granholm is about as non-controversial as you can get. She has been vetted by the public over the years. Unless she has something disqualifying in her background, she'll be the one.

[Thrill]

8. Granholm's not the safe pick. Shes a politcian

And doesn't have a record on the court, so her record as a Governor will be on display. And thats less than stellar. Also so she had some tax issues not too long ago. I would like her as the pick, but she would have a tough confirmation. All of them will, but just the fact that Granholm is a very public Governor, she isn't likely to have an easy road.

[blue_onyx]

9. "And thats less than stellar"

Actually, she's been a very good governor. Most of our problems have been centered around the auto industry and our over dependency on the auto industry, not her poor performance. I think things would be even worse here had she not been governor.

The MI GOP hate Granholm and there's nothing that the GOP can throw at her that they haven't already tried. Granholm can fight the GOP attacks and makes them look foolish better than anyone. Republicans will attack anyone Obama picks so he should pick who he wants.

[Unsane]

11. She wouldn't be a safe pick at all.