My own hunch, given the president's own commitment to diversity on the federal bench, is that he is going to have a strong bias in favor of selecting a qualified woman or minority for this second seat.
He believes what he believes and he does what he does because he is genuinely and sincerely committed to trying to save American lives from events like 9-11. He advocates his views as forcefully as he does because he sincerely believes they're in the public interest.
I would predict he will keep his promise and appoint a justice in the mold of Scalia and Thomas, a strong judicial conservative. I don't buy the argument the president will pull his punches. That's not his style.
The pressure to find a woman or a minority if anything will be even greater this time around, I have a sneaking suspicion it would be either a woman or Gonzales.
This choice is exactly what it appears to be -- it's the ultimate vote of confidence by the president in a lawyer who has served as his lawyer in one capacity or another for a very long time. The president is very, very confident in his judgments about people, and he likes to reward loyalty.
That's the right move for a whole variety of reasons and, if I were on the inside, that is what I would be arguing. There is the one and only way for the Supreme Court to start its term with nine members and a chief, and that is to nominate John Roberts.
The conservative base in the Republican party is putting on as much pressure as is possible for someone who will shift the court to the right. The Democrats are putting as much pressure as they're capable of on the president to select someone that they will deem ideologically acceptable.
Ultimately, ... I think the president is unusually good at ignoring all kinds of outside pressure with an important decision like this and focusing on the merits and what's important for the long term.
Because of the pool problem, we did carefully examine law firms and professors as well in looking for good women and minorities to appoint as district judges and appellate judges.
David has always been one of those quietly influential staffers that has an impact all of out proportion to their public profile. He knows how to get things done, and when he talks, people listen because they know he has the authority of the vice president behind him.
All else being equal, the president would go for diversity. Women and minorities will be among the candidates considered.
Nobody who gets hit by a bus has warm feelings about the bus. People who have tangled with David over the years and come out on the wrong end of those fights harbor some bad feelings.
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