Kagan could be hard to hit

[ruggerson]

Kagan Could Be Hard to Hit

Solicitor General Elena Kagan is reportedly the overwhelming frontrunner to be picked by President Obama as his next Supreme Court nominee. And if she is selected, conservatives could find it tough to mount an attack on her.


Critics will have significantly less material to use against Kagan, it seems, than they had against Obama's last nominee, Justice Sonia Sotomayor.



I asked Carrie Severino, chief counsel and policy director of the Judicial Crisis Network (a conservative group focused on judicial nominees) what conservatives are going to say about Kagan, and what Kagan's "wise Latina" moment, if there is one, will prove to be.


"She has been much more careful than Justice Sotomayor. She never would have said something like that even if she thinks it. She's been so careful for so long that no one seems to know exactly what she does think," Severino said.


Severino attended Harvard Law School, where Kagan served as dean. She asked fellow Harvard people about Kagan's tenure as dean. "Everyone came back with the same perspective, which was she was careful to never say anything on the record, or off the record, to anyone about her own opinions, so I think she's been carefully shepherding her image for a long time, possibly ever since her DC circuit nomination by President Clinton, so that's a long time to effectively live on the short list."

(more)

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/05/kagan-could-be-hard-to-hit/56397/

[WeDidIt]

1. IMO, if nominated and confirmed.....

Elena Kagan will prove to be the most liberal Justice in history.

She has been carefully groomed for an appointment to the high court.

Her lack of a clearly liberal record is no accident.

[rurallib]

3. lord I hope you are right.

[HughMoran]

4. I want to believe that

As was Stevens supposed to be a conservative, so am I hoping that Kagan is a lot more liberal than people think. 'Not showing your cards' does not mean 'conservative'.

[Hawaii Hiker]

6. I really want to believe that, but

i just fear she could be our David Souter...Meaning, Republicans thought they were going to have a reliable vote w/him on their issues, but he turned out to be quite liberal....

There are many better liberal choices out there - Koh, Karlan, K. Sullivan, Goodwin Liu....

Elena Kagan is way too much of a gamble, the thought of a Democratic president w/a 59-41 majority in the senate could actually make a pick that could tilt the court even further right is very troubling...

[DrToast]

8. Maybe she'll be a sleeper agent like Roberts.

I sure hope so.

[IndianaGreen]

2. I am reminded of how North Korea propaganda machine is building up Kim Yong-Il's successor

The same propaganda techniques are now being used to get the gullible public to buy off on Kagan's elevation to SCOTUS.

[BootinUp]

5. Would you concede that Justice Stevens

eventual record as a strong liberal (with some exceptions) does not demonstrate the possibility suggested by the previous poster? Clearly politics must be employed to get the Senate to confirm.

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[CTLawGuy]

10. what,

no Nazi Germany comparison??