Centerfield

I love it! Why not Fred Thompson? Hey, he was the prosecutor on Law and Order for a while... That qualifies him, right?

I am betting on a John Roberts like nominee... Posssibly Michael McConnell who would probably win bi-partisan support, but none the less edge the court to the right. How can the Democrats vote down someone that agreed with them on Bush v. Gore, or the Clinton impeachment?

Tully,

I see your Fred Thompson and raise you a Lindsay Graham. (I mean, if we're going for GOP-Senate-friendly white guys, pick the one with the gender-ambiguous name.) Plus the GOP governor gets to appoint the replacement.

But for those looking for a female John Roberts, there are rumors now about Maureen Mahoney, a partner at Latham & Watkins. The comparisons in CV are noteworthy.

Thompson has a lot more real-life legal experience than Graham, though I like Graham too. Just not for the USSC....

Of course almost all of Thompson's experience has been in government, which is a minus when tea-leaf reading time comes around. He actually had to promote the opinions and interpretations he was tasked to promote.

But I suspect that Thompson is going to run for governor himself. And if he does, he'll win.

That's an amusing idea. Almost as funny as John Stewart's attack ad on Geena Davis for wanting to be the TV President.

I agree that Thompson has the right demeanor to win a goverorship. Which state? Like it or not, he polished his image substantially with the role he played on Law and Order...

Tennessee, of course. He'd win in a walk, and speculation is rife that he plans exactly that. There is no one on the GOP side that incumbent Phil Bredesen fears more as an opponent.

I'm just throwing his name out as a SCOTUS nomination for giggles, of course, but he's a good example of someone that would be very tough to effectively demonize, and who could handle the hearings very well indeed. He began his public service career as a US attorney, then helped bring down a president as Watergate co-chief counsel, brought down a governor in the Tennessee pardon scandals, etc. He has no time on the bench, but he has plenty of visible and trackable time in the public sector.

Not to mention he (Thompson) is a very imposing and Presidential figure. There are many who were disappointed when he left the Senate to return to acting, it was widely assumed that he would have made a great Presidential candidate.

He'd win the TN governorship without even campaigning.

Dammit! I don't know why hyperlinks don't work when I post them here the first time. I swear I know HTML. The link to Ms. Mahoney's bio is here.

Incidentally, Tom Goldstein, who predicted the Roberts nomination on November 7, 2004, now predicts Samuel Alito of the Third Circuit gets this one.

Tully,

You'll just have to take my word for it that an AUSA isn't the same thing as a full-fledged United States Attorney. (Among other things, we have to file stuff in the United States Attorney's name. And he gets the cool office with the riverscape view. And his pay is better.)

Quite an impressive resume, but does that really matter to conservatives? They jumped on Miers over a perceived lack of constitutional skills (quite cruelly I might add), something they would obviously be unable to do in this case. However, they only reason they attacked Miers was because they were not convinced she had pledged her allegiance to their cause. What would be different with Ms. Mahoney? (I'm asking...not aware of any of her views.)

Too bad Steven Hill is dead. He'd be an awesome choice!

Pick me! PIck me! I'll save the U.S. from slouching toward Gomorrah!

Alas, poor Harriet, we knew her not at all...

Well, at least she performed one last service for the "most brilliant man" she knows. By throwing herself on that grenade on Thursday, she made her withdrawal a one day story and distracted attention from Libbygate. Quite an accomplishment. If only the WH had done the rest of her confirmation so well...

JD, I'll absolutely take your word for it. I said I was just throwing it out for giggles...Thompson has palpable personal gravitas, even if it was developed for the Big Screen!

I don't want Graham on SCOTUS because he's much more useful where he is, especially if he advances in the party heirarchy.

I'll support him for the seat, naturally, but only if he promises every opinion he writes will include: "This business will get out of control. It will get out of control and we'll be lucky to live through it."

The AUSA/USA thing was in jest, because he was only an Assistant US Attorney not a US Attorney.

The most memorable quote from Thompson that I can recall offhand is:

"After two years in Washington, I often long for the realism and sincerity of Hollywood."

Me, I want to see Thompson do that "They all give milk." speech from Roseanne.

Girls! Girls! You'll never believe what he wanted me to do!