Supreme Court candidate Elena Kagan has admirers left and right

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The solicitor general has ties to Obama's legal circle, and conservatives praise her for bridging the ideological divide. Another contender to succeed Souter: California high court Justice Moreno.


By David G. Savage and James Oliphant
May 14, 2009

Reporting from Washington -- If there is a Supreme Court candidate with inside connections, it is Elena Kagan, the Harvard Law School dean who was recently named U.S. solicitor general.

Kagan, 49, is not widely known for legal writings or for taking a stand on a controversial issue. And she has never argued a case in the federal courts. Yet, in her career in academia and in the Clinton White House, she has worked with nearly everyone who counts inside President Obama's legal circle, including then-professor Obama at the University of Chicago Law School.

Those who know her well say she has the intellect, insight and personality to succeed on the Supreme Court.

"She has an excellent chance, and she would be terrific," said Harvard Law School professor Laurence H. Tribe. "She has a masterful command of so many areas of law. And she's been vetted and recently confirmed. Her writing is not voluminous, which is also a plus."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-court-kagan14-2009may14,0,1951293.story

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1. Laurence Tribe endorsement is all I need to hear

I've been saying I thought she would get it. But she got a nice stamp of approval there. And only 49.

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2. I still think she will be the nominee