Trending Wood?
National Journal's Stuart Taylor shuffles his rankings for SCOTUS Justice David Souter's replacement, moving Diane P. Wood to the top of the heap.
Pres. Obama knows Wood, a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit who teaches at the University of Chicago Law School. She is impeccably credentialed, a woman (of course), a Covington & Burling alum (hello, Eric Holder), has Justice Dept. credentials, and is well regarded in the legal community. She is not a political lightning rod. Some say she's the left's John Roberts equivalent.
Here is Taylor's rationale: "The reasons include the news that Judge Wood was the first SCOTUS candidate to meet with President Obama and reports that the White House is especially impressed with her display of intellectual power and judicial temperament in 14 years on the federal appellate bench. Wood's judicial record has won the respect of conservative as well as liberal colleagues and many other experts as well."