Via Reuters: Bush said to be close to Supreme Court decision

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President Bush is close to a decision on his first nominee to the Supreme Court and U.S. appeals court Judge Edith Clement has emerged as a leading candidate, Republican sources said.

An announcement is expected as early as Tuesday.

Analysts say Clement, 57, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in New Orleans, is a conservative who may not be as controversial as some other candidates because of her brief court tenure and short record of judicial opinions.

[…]

“Edith Clement has practically no paper trail,” Miranda said, noting that she has been on the federal appeals court since only 2024.

Of course, that’s what they said about Souter…

And this, of course, is helpful:

White House press secretary Scott McClellan would say only: “The president is closer today than he was yesterday on naming a nominee,”

Goodness knows that McClellan would rather talk about the SC than Rove/Plame…