but whoever Obama puts on the court should not be a white male. There are plenty of highly qualified legal minds who are not white males.

Just my opinion.

Sen. Russ Feingold.

Thought I suspect it'll be Sonia Sotomayor, which is fine by me.

I would LOOOOOOVE Dawn Johnsen, just to ram it into the Rethugs who are blackballing her from heading the OLC.

But Sotomayor is fine by me.  She was first nominated to the Federal Bench by GHW bush, and then shamefully blocked by the Rethugs for over a year when Bill Clinton nominated her to her current post in NY's Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

She's a Centrist (yuck) not a Liberal, which might put her in sinc with the useful idiot Anthony Kennedy in helping thugs like Scalia and Roberts puch the SCOTUS rightward.  Sandra Day O'Connor wasn;t a Liberal either:  She was a corporatist much of her career, and I would very much like a good, solid, strong Progressive on the Court.

It seems like AGES since we got a strong Liberal on there:  Souter was a HUGE disappointment to the Right after he came to his senses and began to look at the Law properly instead of the way the GOP told him to.

Come to think of it, NO.  I see no need to placate or play nice with the Rethugs.

Select a good, strong, Liberal, and let them do their worst.  That's what Bush did to us with Roberts and Alito.  

Besides, we win in either case.

Put me down for Governor Granholm.  Though she did back Clinton in the primary, so I doubt she'll get it.

I assume it won't happen this time (because I agree it needs to be a woman and probably Latino), but I would love to see Patrick of MA on the course at some point. Outside of his support of gay rights, the other reason is that as a black guy I would really like to stick it to Thomas. But,t hat's just personal animousity toward Thomas whom I've disliked since he lied in his Senate confirmation hearing.

How about Bill Clinton himself.  

Talk about kicking the GOP when they are down! :)

Leah Ward of Georgia.

Of course, the nominee should be pro-choice, pro-gay, etc., and it would be nice to see a candidate who is not white or male, but a nominee with those qualifications is easy to find.

What I'd like to see is a real pro-labor candidate, too - one that won't interpret federal law as favorable to corporate America at the expense of the rest of us, like they did with Ledbetter.

If Sonia Sotomayor is the political correct nominee given her female and hispanic roots....what exactly is her ideology?  Is she more liberal or more conservative compared to David Souter(the one being replaced?)

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 So the GLBT community is being told once again, "Not your turn!"

I've written a short list as well. but I'm still working over the names.  I'm thinking Patrick is a no go (he seems to be dead, politically, in MA) and I'm still considering if Politico is right on Sotomayor being the favorite.

Kicking him "upstairs" to the Supreme Court might get a better governor of Massachusetts.  Interesting possibility, but a longshot.

Former dean of Stanford Law, young, smart, progressive, author of much-used textbook on constitutional law. She's be a terrific choice.

And, I hear those that scream "this should be about the most qualified, not a sop to a particular group..."

Still, I think Sotomayor from a pure political point of view is wonderful.

The Republicans have a terrible problem there.

Oppose the FIRST Hispanic nominated to the court?

Yes, between that and right wing radio screaming that Swine Flu is a Mexican terrorist action, opposing Sotomayor will be political suicide with the Latino poltical community.

You know they will, because even though she is NOT as liberal as Sullivan for example, she is TOO liberal for them (they think Obama should nominate Alito mark II)

Yeah, it sucks to think in terms of politics here, but it's not like that hasn't been sadly the history of USSC picks for the last 30 years.

I've finished my evaluations for potential Supreme Court nominees but I'm interested in hearing what others think.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/weblogs/p olitics-101/2009/feb/14/ken-starr-obamas -supreme-court-picks-will-face-tro/

Poor Kenny boy...He just KNEW his ass was heading for SCOTUS, then he became the governments most famous pornographer and it all fell apart for him....

You know what Ken. YOU'RE STILL not going to be picked!

What, no Weddington?

Everyone's talking about either balancing the court or making the Republicans scream...you think any nominee would do either better than Sarah Weddington?

During the campaign, Obama mentioned he wanted to pick a candidate who was outside the box.   Right now every judge on the Supreme Court was a Federal Appeal's Court judge before.

Does Obama pick a politician? Does he pick a member of his own Cabinet?    

Then again since this comes days after Arlen Spector joined the Democratic Party and assurances of a 60 vote package....perhaps Obama is confident he can make a bold nomination by picking a relatively liberal nominee.

Are the Spector and Souter announcements coincidental or is that is a clever elaborate plan to ensure confirmation.