Who's Down the Pipe for the Court

An interesting, if somewhat speculative, article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on the possible Supreme Court nominees we might see after the 2004 election. (Link via Southern Appeal)

One beef: the article asserts that Kerry might nominate a political figure, rather than a jurist, to fill a vacancy. That's reasonable. But check out their examples:

"Kennedy opted for Byron White -- a football hero and top prosecutor -- and if President Kerry were thinking along these lines, his short list could include such names as [Rep.] Richard A. Gephardt [of Missouri] and [former Maryland Lt. Gov.] Kathleen Kennedy Townsend."

This is probably just idle speculation by a friend of Mrs. Kennedy Townsend, trying to get her name in the papers. Let's hope so. The idea that Kathleen Kennedy Townsend is qualified for a Supreme Court justiceship is more than a little laughable. We're talking about a woman whose career highlight was losing the race for governor in an overwhelmingly Democratic state while the sitting lieutenant governor. A woman whose legal intellect is so great that she was able to parlay the Kennedy name and a Harvard BA into a JD from the illustrious University of New Mexico School of Law. I've no doubt that, if nominated and confirmed, she would be the least qualified Supreme Court justice in the venerable institution's two-plus centuries. Hands down.