Obama navigating high court nomination process with more ease this time

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/07/AR2010050705029.html?hpid=topnews

Obama navigating high court nomination process with more ease this time

By Anne E. Kornblut and Robert Barnes
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, May 8, 2010


The last time President Obama announced a Supreme Court nominee, he was four months into his tenure, struggling to steer the economy and launch his health-care overhaul. With members of his staff still exhausted from the presidential campaign -- and most of them unfamiliar with the process -- the White House scrambled to create from scratch a list of candidates and to ensure that Obama could achieve victory on one of his first high-profile decisions.

By comparison, the ongoing process is almost laid-back.

Or at least more familiar. As Obama prepares to announce within the next few days his nomination to replace Justice John Paul Stevens -- with observers and people close to the process convinced that it will be Solicitor General Elena Kagan, despite tight-lipped silence from the White House -- officials say his steps reflect growing confidence within his inner circle in handling one of the most consequential choices of the presidency.

Almost everything about the Supreme Court nomination this time builds on the lessons of the Justice Sonia Sotomayor experience. During the last go-round, administration officials were not always certain whether to push back on criticism about potential candidates for fear of appearing as if their choice was already made. This time, the White House has in several instances been aggressively involved, most notably after a blogger aired rumors that Kagan might be gay. "It meant we adopted a posture that was, I think, more aggressive in, frankly, protecting the president's ability to make a selection," one administration official said.

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One Democrat close to the process said the questions about Kagan and her lack of a record on issues liberal groups are concerned about has not hurt her.

Because of her work in the Clinton administration, one activist said, "she has a lot of powerful liberal friends in this town. She has been very effective in using her progressive allies."