He is genuinely committed to diversity on the federal bench. It was explicit. He wanted his staff to find qualified women and minorities.

Yet they still remain afraid of their own citizens and the healthy diversity of news and views which defines a modern society .

Given the Cheney precedent and the president's well-known loyalty to his aides, it's certainly possible the president could turn to Harriet.

She's a very able lawyer who is the person currently charged with carrying forward the president's search for judicial conservatives, so she certainly understands what the president looks for in his nominees. I suspect she'd be confirmed quite easily.

The case they [the justices] thought they had may not be the case they have now.

The overall lesson of the two nominations taken together is that there is considerable safety in drawing from the very small pool of people who are universally considered qualified for appointment.