Clinton offered Mario Cuomo a spot on the Supreme Court...

[liberalpragmatist]

... too bad Cuomo turned it down. He would have made a phenomenal justice.

Actually, reading about the process by which Ruth Bader Ginsberg got nominated is really fascinating. Granted, it's from Wikipedia, so it's not authoritative, but still a good read:

> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Clinton_Supreme_Court_candidates

After Byron White announced his retirement on March 19, 1993, Clinton began a weeks-long journey through consideration of an unusually large number of candidates. The name that came up that interested Clinton the most was that of New York Gov. Mario Cuomo. Clinton offered White's seat first to Cuomo, who initially had told confidants that he was willing to take the seat, but then changed his mind and faxed Clinton a letter telling him that his duty to residents of his state was more important than his desire to serve on the court.

Liberal lawyers wanted Harvard Law professor and constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe, but Clinton and his aides next considered several candidates as "outside-the-box" choices. Clinton played with the idea of nominating a brilliant political philosopher instead of a practicing attorney. Professors Stephen L. Carter of Yale and Michael Sandel of Harvard would have fit the bill, but Clinton then hit upon what he considered to be a "sexy" idea: the nomination of his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton. However, there was a huge problem associated with such a selection. George Stephanopoulos, a Clinton aide at the time, has written that the idea was dropped because the president's, "choice had to be ratified by the Senate, where Republicans hadn't forgotten the rejection of Robert Bork, and Democrats were reeling from their recent encounters with Zoe Baird, Kimba Wood, and Lani Guinier. Sexy was good, but safe was better. We simply couldn't afford another failed nomination." Stephanopoulos quotes Clinton himself saying, "We don't need another gang-that-couldn't-shoot-straight story."<7><8>

Clinton then turned to other politicians -- first, U.S. Sen. George J. Mitchell of Maine, who declined on the spot, desiring to stay in the Senate and help to pass Clinton's legislation. After Mitchell, Clinton approached his Secretary of Education, Richard Riley, a former South Carolina governor who also said no.<5> "I was a mediocre country lawyer", Riley told Clinton. "This isn't my thing."<6> Clinton next considered his Secretary of the Interior, Bruce Babbitt, a former Arizona governor. Clinton prepared to nominate Babbitt when two problems surfaced -- a false published report about gambling debts in Las Vegas and opposition to Babbitt's nomination voiced by Sen. Orrin Hatch, who was the ranking Republican on the United States Senate Judiciary Committee. Hatch had told Clinton that Babbitt's strong pro-environmental views had enraged a group of Republican senators in the western United States who might take revenge either on Babbitt's nomination or on the candidate Clinton nominated to replace him in the Department of the Interior. Clinton chose not to proceed with Babbitt's nomination.<5><6><9>

Clinton then turned to existing judges. He considered Eighth Circuit judge http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_S._Arnold">Richard S. Arnold, who was not a close friend of Clinton's but who was from Clinton's home state of Arkansas. The president very much wanted to nominate Arnold but feared the nomination might be viewed as cronyism. He then weighed Sixth Circuit judge Gilbert S. Merritt, who was a family friend of Vice President Al Gore. However, a problem surfaced relating to Merritt's tenure as a U.S. attorney in the 1960s, and Clinton decided not to proceed with Merritt. Clinton then asked his staff about Janie Shores, who had been the first woman to serve on the Alabama Supreme Court but who was not well-known in Washington, D.C. legal circles. In addition, Shores' constitutional views were completely unknown to Clinton or anyone else on his team. "You are not nominating Janie Shores to the Supreme Court", White House counsel Bernard W. Nussbaum told Clinton. "No one knows who she is. This is insane."<6>

The next name Clinton considered was that of First Circuit judge Stephen Breyer. Clinton's staff had liked Breyer, but given an injury that he had sustained just a few days earlier, Breyer was in a significant amount of pain. During his interview with Clinton, Breyer was short of breath and in pain. Clinton ultimately decided that Breyer seemed "heartless." "I don't see enough humanity", Clinton told his staff. "I want a judge with soul."<6>

Clinton then considered a list of "firsts" for diversity purposes: David Tatel, a Washington lawyer who had served in the Carter Administration who would be the first blind justice; Jose Cabranes, a district court judge who would be the first Hispanic justice, and D.C. Circuit judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who, Stephanopoulos writes, "would be the first Jewish justice since Abe Fortas, and the first woman to be appointed by a Democrat. More important, she was a pioneer in the legal fight for women's rights—a female Thurgood Marshall."<7><8> In addition, Ginsburg was noted as moderate-to-conservative on criminal matters and had a different rationale for supporting Roe v. Wade than most liberals: she considered laws banning abortion a form of sex discrimination rather than a violation of privacy. Hatch told Clinton that he would support Ginsburg as well.<6>

At that point, however, Cuomo's son, Andrew Cuomo, contacted Clinton's staff to inquire if the president had made a final decision yet. Mario Cuomo, his son said, believed that Clinton was about to name Breyer to the court and as a result thought that Clinton would not name two white males in a row. As such, the governor believed that his own chances were now or never. Clinton still was interested in nominating Cuomo, telling his staff that the governor "will sing the song of America. It'll be like watching Pavarotti at Christmastime." Clinton then interviewed Ginsburg, and then took a phone call from Cuomo, who backed out of consideration for a second time. The next day, on June 15, 1993, Clinton announced that he had chosen Ginsburg.<6> The Senate confirmed Ginsburg in a 96-3 vote on August 3, 1993.<10>

Really interesting. And sounds like classic Bill. And classic Mario Cuomo, whose Hamlet acts apparently weren't limited to the presidency.

I like Ginsberg. Still, I wish Cuomo - or Babbitt - had been selected. Then Ginsberg could have taken Breyer's spot.

Also, while Hillary on the Supreme Court is not farfetched in general (I had her pegged as a possible Chief Justice had Kerry won in '04), the idea of Bill nominating her would have been insane - conflicts of interest, bullshit but ongoing investigations, and nepotism.

[LuvNewcastle]

1. Justice Ginsburg is probably

my favorite on the Court today. She's tough and her opinions are well thought-out. I hope she lasts as long as she wants to.

[elleng]

2. She and Breyer are my favorites, I think;

but having read what I have about Souter, my vote is up for grabs!

[UTUSN]

3. Allow me to be the K&R #1!1 n/t

[OmahaBlueDog]

4. My takeaway was that Barack should nominate Michelle

It's still a sexy idea, and there's no GOP majority to fuss with.

[SoxFan]

5. Mitchell would have made a superb justice

Oh, and everything Bernard Nussbaum was a walking debacle, the classic insular Beltway know it all. Everything he touched turned to crap, so Janie Shores probably would have been a good pick