Is Diane Wood really our first choice?

Diane Wood is everything we could want in a Supreme Court nominee. She is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals Seventh Circuit. She holds very liberal positions in areas ranging from abortion rights to the rights of illegal immigrants. Furthermore her liberal activism fits very well into the shoes of John Paul Stevens, long known as the leader of the liberal wing of the court. The only problem is (don't take this personally, Judge) she's old. To most people this would not seem like a big deal. Older justices are much more experienced and therefore are more thoughtful when it comes to decision making. This is not the Supreme Court we are dealing with.

The Supreme Court we are dealing with today is just another partisan battleground, only one where popular opinion is irrelevant. The Republicans seem to have picked up on how crucial it is to have a majority of judges agree with your views. Clarence Thomas was nominated by George Bush 41 at the age of 43. Many have speculated that he did this to ensure a conservative voice in the court for the longest possible times. Justices Alito and Roberts were nominated at the relatively young ages of 55 and 50 respectively. They will be sitting on that court, for better or worse, for a very long time. To put this in perspective, Judge Wood will be 60 next year.

Though she may be the most qualified candidate for the Supreme Court, do we really want someone who may retire in twenty years? This seems like a long time, but 59 Democratic votes in the senate are somewhat like Haley's Comet, they come around every 75 or so years but you usually don't do anything about it anyway.