Fairly nice touch to hold the speech in the national archives, right in front of the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and Bill of Rights. Powerful setting to highlight the importance of the “rule of law.”

Jack Goldsmith, former head of the OLC (after Bybee), had an interesting piece earlier this week in the New Republic, in which he argues that Cheney’s criticism of Obama is unfounded, mostly because Obama has in fact adopted a fairly similar approach to the Bush administration in a number of areas. Goldsmith credits Obama, however, with a sharp departure from the rhetoric and argumentation of his predecessor – characteristics that he thinks makes Obama’s policies more effective.

You can find the article here:

http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=1e733cac-c273-48e5-9140-80443ed1f5e2

Regarding the choice of Souter’s replacement, it will be interesting to see what views Obama’s appointee holds on issues related to executive power. I guess we will have to wait and see!

Christie Todd Whitman? Lawyerly credentials aside, this choice passes my gut-check about how Obama uses optics. Obama seems to like taking “chances” that are very down-the-middle.

She is a semi-retired politician with good moderate bona fides, and has always been a Republican. She is not a lawyer and is a non-jurist, meaning she’s both easy and hard to challenge during confirmation. There would be a cry from the left, but her responsible-government efforts are a good fit for what Obama wants as his legacy.

I like that she didn’t practice law, but executed it, in her career. I also know it’s a pipe-dream. Oh well.

I wonder the consequences for Obama’s ‘presidential power’ if he picks a politician without a verifiable legal history. It seems to me he would better preserve/enhance his bargaining power by choosing the justice that appeals to the most important members of Congress and their constituents with a length record of decisions or legal articles. As an advocate for this president I would hope that he uses this decision as another opportunity to solidify his ‘professional reputation,’ particularly with THE TWO MODERATE REPUBLICAN SENATORS FROM MAINE. It seems he is a few Senate votes away from incredible legislative opportunity (assuming endless legal challenges for Franken and an errant Specter), and this nomination provides him an opportunity to bargain and ensure continued progress for the next 100+ days of his administration.

Jack – if Sessions gets the nomination, you get two T-shirts.

As for picking someone with deep political experience, I am 100% for it. After all, constitutional law is just politics (in the best sense of the word) played on a different field with different rules and norms.