Obama Talks to Hatch, Specter on Supreme Court Nominee

President Barack Obama has extended an early hand to two senators on his upcoming search for a Supreme Court nominee to replace retiring Justice David Souter: Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch and recent Democratic convert, Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters today. “The process has begun and began some time ago to go through prospective and potential candidates, to begin to review the history and the background and their experience,” Gibbs said, adding that Obama wants a full court when they reconvene in October and would like a nominee confirmed before Congress adjourns for the August recess. – from WSJ

President Barack Obama reached out by telephone today to a couple of senators with seats on the Judiciary Committee who will consider his nominee for the Supreme Court.

“Following through on his commitment to reach out to Democrats and Republicans in the Senate,” the White House said, the president called Sens. Orrin Hatch, a Republican from Utah, and Arlen Specter, the newly minted Democrat from Pennsylvania. Obama “vowed to consult regularly with senators in both parties to ensure an orderly confirmation process that will allow Justice Souter’s replacement to be confirmed by the beginning of the court’s next session” in October. – from Swamp

Presumably, the president had a lot to discuss with Senator Hatch, who suggested in a television interview on Sunday that Mr. Obama’s call for a judicial nominee who had empathy was “code” for activism. Mr. Hatch expressed concern, saying the president “also said that he’s going to select judges on the basis of their personal politics, their personal feelings, their personal preferences. Now, you know, those are all code words for an activist judge, who is going to, you know, be partisan on the bench.” – from NYtimes