WASHINGTON — If there is a Supreme Court candidate with inside connections, it is Elena Kagan, the Harvard Law School dean who was recently named U.S. solicitor general.
Kagan, 49, is not widely known for legal writings or for taking a stand on a controversial issue. And she has never argued a case in the federal courts. Yet, in her career in academia and in the Clinton White House, she has worked with nearly everyone who counts inside President Obama's legal circle, including then-professor Obama at the University of Chicago Law School.
Those who know her well say she has the intellect, insight and personality to succeed on the Supreme Court.
"She has an excellent chance, and she would be terrific," said Harvard Law School professor Laurence H. Tribe. "She has a masterful command of so many areas of law. And she's been vetted and recently confirmed. Her writing is not voluminous, which is also a plus."
And unlike nearly all the other potential nominees, Kagan is not likely to face sharp attacks from conservatives. At Harvard, she won glowing praise from prominent conservatives for bridging the ideological divide.
"Of all the good people Obama is considering, Elena is the really outstanding one," said Harvard's Charles Fried, who served as solicitor general for President Reagan. "It's clear where her heart is" -- she is no conservative -- "but she respects everyone and makes the conservatives feel comfortable," he added.
Meanwhile, a new name surfaced Wednesday on the short list of potential high court nominees: California Supreme Court Justice Carlos R. Moreno. A former federal judge in Los Angeles, Moreno was named to the high court by Gov. Gray Davis in 2001. He also served as a criminal court judge in Compton and a Superior Court judge in Los Angeles.
He is the only Democrat on the state Supreme Court and has had a moderate-to-liberal voting record. After the retirement announcement of Justice David H. Souter, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) recommended Moreno, a Mexican American, and officials confirmed he is a candidate.
Besides Moreno, the others said to be under careful consideration are all women. They include Judges Diane Wood from Chicago and Sonia Sotomayor from New York, Michigan Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.
