<p>Nah, my theory is that he’ll pluck an already sitting judge – almost certainly from federal appellate court, although he could in theory go with an analog to O’Connor (formerly state supreme court, among others).</p>
<p>According to this list, my theory leads us to suspect that it’ll be Woods, Garland, Sears, or Thomas. Sears might be a little too far left to pass a confirmation hearing, so that leaves us most particularly with Woods (if Obama’s looking for a winnable fight) or Garland (if he’s not looking for much of a fight at all).</p>
<p>If I had to pick one of the other seven, I’d be inclined to guess Granholm, but that’s just off the top of my head.</p>
<p>[The</a> Supreme Court Short List - Political Punch](<a href=“http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/04/the-supreme-court-short-list.html]The”>http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/04/the-supreme-court-short-list.html)</p>
<p>If Obama wants a genuine intellectual heavyweight – and I don’t see why he wouldn’t – then Kagan, Woods, and Cass Sunstein (not currently on the shortlist) would be the top choices.</p>
<p>[Obama’s</a> Supreme Court Nominees Short List Includes Six Women - ABC News](<a href=“Obama's Supreme Court Short List Includes Six Women - ABC News”>Obama's Supreme Court Short List Includes Six Women - ABC News)</p>