Obama: Court Pick Will Go Beyond 'Ivory Tower' Smarts

By Harry Kimball, Newser Staff

Posted May 23, 2009 10:05 AM CDT

(Newser) – President Obama said today he would be announcing his nominee to the Supreme Court “soon” and hopes to have the new justice confirmed by Congress’ August recess, Bloomberg reports. In a C-SPAN interview, Obama laid out his criteria, which includes not only “ivory tower learning” but also empathy. “You have to be able to stand in somebody else’s shoes and see through their eyes and get a sense of how the law might work or not work in practical day-to-day living.”

Obama wants a quick confirmation so the new justice can “hit the ground” in October, and noted that Samuel Alito and John Roberts were both confirmed in 70 days. “I think that’s a fair timeframe for us to work with as well." When asked if he would like to serve on the court someday, the president, a constitutional scholar, demurred. “You know,” he said, “I’m not sure that I could get through a Senate confirmation.”

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President Barack Obama. (AP Photo)

President Barack Obama waves goodbye after signing the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act yesterday. (AP Photo)

Obama will be replacing Supreme Court Justice David Souter. (AP Photo)

President Barack Obama speaks in the Rose Garden Friday. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

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What I want is not just ivory tower learning. I want somebody who has the intellectual firepower, but also a little bit of a common touch and has a practical sense of how the world works. - President Obama

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