Because now we are going to need some republicans support. And what better way to garner it than to find to find judges that would be very popular in the state where the said republican senator lives.
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http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2010/Senate/Maps/Apr03-s.html#1So Obama has to weigh (1) his plans to change America (2) his policy agenda (3) the nastiness of the confirmation battle and (4) the midterm elections in making a pick. In terms of the confirmation battle, while conservative Democrats will pro-forma grumble about anybody he picks, none of them wants to be the deciding vote that defeats his nominee, especially if the nominee has a gold-plated Ivy League pedigree and years of relevant experience. But he needs at least one Republican to break the filibuster. No doubt he will concentrate on six senators to corral that last vote. Four of the 17 women in the Senate are Republicans: Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX), Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Olympia Snowe (R-ME). By nominating a clearly qualified woman, he puts all of them under pressure to support her, lest the senator anger her female constituents. Snowe is up for reelection in 2012 and is the most likely to support a woman; Murkowski is the least likely.
Two men are also going to be targets.
Scott Brown is also up in 2012 and voting against someone who graduated from Harvard Law School or is or was a professor there is going to be hard to explain to the voters. Running against Harvard is easy if you are a senator from Texas but not so easy if you are a senator from Massachusetts. The other male senator who is potential vote is Lindsey Graham (R-SC). He served in the Judge Advocate General's Corps in the Air Force and is known to be a strong supporter of the rule of law. He believes that senators should not vote against clearly qualified nominees just because they don't like his or her presumed politics. He voted to confirm Sotomayor to the court.