Say what you will about George (Forty-Three) Bush. He had but two Supreme Court opening and he nailed both of them. Both of Bush’s nominees John Roberts and Samuel Alito had impeccable records and were conceded to judicial intellects.
With the pending retirement of David Souter, the one now has his opportunity to leave his mark on the court. Given that Souter is the very epitome of mediocre, Obama has a great opportunity to upgrade the court and put a liberal intellect on the court to match the power of say Anton Scalia.
Not surprisingly, Obama appears to be focusing demographics and not judicial factors. Obama isn’t looking for a liberal Scalia. He looking for a spic chic. Enter Sonia Sotomayor, from Jeffrey Rosen, New Republic [1]:
But despite the praise from some of her former clerks, and warm words from some of her Second Circuit colleagues, there are also many reservations about Soto mayor. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been talking to a range of people who have worked with her, nearly all of them former law clerks for other judges on the Second Circuit or former federal prosecutors in New York. Most are Democrats and all of them want President ABM to appoint a judicial star of the highest intellectual caliber who has the potential to change the direction of the court. Nearly all of them acknowledged that Soto mayor is a presumptive front-runner, but nearly none of them raved about her. They expressed questions about her temperament, her judicial craftsmanship, and most of all, her ability to provide an intellectual counterweight to the conservative justices, as well as a clear liberal alternative
The case for Sotomayor is that she a compelling biography and mothering nature. However as circuit court judge she seems rather mediocre. The thought of Sotomayor doesn’t seem to be sending chills down the libtards’ spines.
Ed Morrissey, Hot Air [2], puts Sotomayor is context with all of Obama’s appointments:
Considering Obama’s other appointments, though, this could be seen as a feature and not a bug. He hasn’t exactly made dazzling choices, from Tim Geithner to Tom Daschle to Bill Richardson to … well, Joe Biden is really the acid test here, since that choice reflects Obama’s judgment on who best represents his values and policies in case of a sudden emergency. If Sotomayor is the mediocrity that Rosen suggests, then remember that I predicted exactly that kind of appointment from the beginning, and bet accordingly.
Whatever Obama looks for in an appointee, it isn’t talent and ability. Obama appears to limit his selections to only those few that fit his rather narrow socialist perspective. While, Obama may consider himself, another John F. Kennedy, among other, Obama’s administration will never earn a Kennedy like description as the Best and Brightest. With the one, is more of the dull and the ideologue.