ConfirmThem

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Associated Press reports that President Bush "is not expected to name a new O'Connor successor this week." But you never know.

The Hill reports that influential Democrats "are predicting that as many as 25 Democrats will vote to confirm John Roberts as chief justice of the United States." That sounds about right.

Hugh Hewitt says that "a Judge Luttig or a Judge Garza, or a Judge Jones would be worth fighting for." I'm with Hugh!

Time Magazine has this to say:

Who does Bush choose to take the O'Connor seat? Conservatives are taking aim once more at Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who they believe might be too moderate. If Bush picks a woman, there's Judge Edith Clement of New Orleans who lost her home in Hurricane Katrina. Bush passed her over last time but her being a storm victim might now give her a certain elan. Priscilla Owen or Edith Jones, both circuit court judges, would please conservatives but would rally Democrats. One White House official says that there's close scrutiny of Larry Thompson, who served as Number two in the Ashcroft Justice department. As African-American, Thompson's nomination might help ease racial tensions in the wake of the New Orleans disaster. One concern among administration officials is the large number of cases that Thompson might have to recuse himself from because he participated in them at Justice.

Info about all of the leading SCOTUS candidates is linked over at the right-hand-side of the confirmthem home page, under the category "SCOTUS Candidates" (of course). Our info suggests that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales would indeed be much more valuable at DOJ than SCOTUS. Also, our sympathies go out to Judge Edith Clement of New Orleans who lost her home in Hurricane Katrina. But, I hope that President Bush will not nominate such a mystery, even if nominating a storm victim might have a certain "elan." Time Magazine is right that nominating Priscilla Owen or Edith Jones would please conservatives, and who cares if it rallies Democrats?

Finally, for now, Orin Kerr has a thoughtful analysis of the prospects for a Brown nomination, and here's a piece:

Will Bush Nominate Janice Rogers Brown?: A lot of people seem to think so, but on balance I find it less than likely. While Brown has a reputation as an "extreme conservative," it's more accurate to say that she is a hard core libertarian. A hard core libertarian is not likely to vote in a consistently conservative way, which I think makes it less likely that Bush will nominate her to the Supreme Court.

Todd Zywicki buttresses Orin's analysis.