Who Will Replace Rehnquist?

That has to be the question of the day in Washington. I would think that it would make sense to nominate a current sitting Supreme Court Justice to the Chief Justice's seat, but I'm not sure that's a requirement. So for the sake of argument, I'm going to assume that will be a given.

I'm not really up on the political leanings of the Court. Sue me, I think it's the job of the Court to interpret the Constitution and the law of the land, not legislate from the bench. So my benchmark (not to make a pun at all) will be their age and the length of time they could serve as Chief Justice. Years that can be served, are of course, plus or minus. I don't know their health or personal choices. O'Connor chose to retire from the Court. Others could do the same, or live well past what most people would consider a long life.

Justice Stevens is 85 and has served for 30 years.

Kennedy and Scalia are both 83. Kennedy has served 17 years and Souter 19.

All three are older than Rehnquist, so for that reason, I think they are out of contention. While any could outlive the other justices, the cards are against them to serve many more years due to age alone. I personally look for retirements (or even death) within Bush's remaining term.

Ginsburg is next at 72. She has served 12 years. Possible, but age and the fact that she's a woman are against her. And she is a liberal. Face it. While Bush isn't above nominating a woman to the bench, it won't be a liberal and especially not to the High Seat.

Souter is 66 and has served for 15 years. Could serve another 20 years. Possible nomination.

Breyer is 65 and has served for 11 years. Could serve another 20 years. Possible nomination.

Thomas is 57 and has served for 14 years.

Age being the only consideration, I'd put Thomas at the top of the heap. Of the current justices, he is the youngest and has three things going for him. One, being 57 he can serve on (and influence) the Court for another 30 years. Two, he's conservative, and three, he's black. His skin color shouldn't make a difference, but it will. How good will it look for Bush to nominate a black conservative to the High Seat? How could the liberals and/or Democrats really fight Thomas' nomination? Only on the grounds that he's conservative. Although there will be some who will say that a Thomas nomination is because he's black, not because he's qualified and just happens to be black.

I have two polls on the sidebar. One is about a Rehnquist replacement. The other who will replace the Justice nominated to replace Rehnquist. They appear randomly, so I hope you'll come back and vote in each one.