Axelrod: Sen. Inhofe Should Have Given Kagan More Than Six Hours’ Consideration

Late this afternoon we interviewed White House senior adviser David Axelrod about the president’s nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court.

TAPPER: What was the final thing that put Elena Kagan over the top?

AXELROD: Oh she had a combination of qualities the President felt was right for this times. She had a wonderful range of experiences, including the last sixteen months representing the United States of America before the Supreme Court. She has the ability to bring people together in an effective way she showed as dean of the Harvard law school. And she has great leadership qualities. And of course we’re replacing a great leader on the court in Justice Stevens so you know she may not, no one can fill that spot immediately but she has the capacity to become a great leader on that court.

TAPPER: So you see her as somebody who can go intellectually toe to toe with a Scalia or a Roberts and also be able to convince a Kennedy to come to her side?

AXELROD: I think she is a powerful and persuasive advocate and we’ve seen that in her work as Solicitor General. We’ve seen that over the years and my guess is that she has the respect of the court because they’ve had a chance to watch her closely.

TAPPER: Senator Inhofe came out today, I guess about 6 hours after her name was announced and said he was going to oppose it. Oppose her nomination. And the two reasons cited were one he didn’t like her banning the military for recruiting at the Office of Career Services at Harvard Law School.

AXELROD: Well first of all one would hope that Senators would give more than 6 hours consideration to the nomination before they render a judgment.  And if he had and he looked into it what he’d find is that she’s been a great champion of young people who want to enlist on the Harvard campus. And there are many who are serving today who were there when she was there who would, who would attest to that.

TAPPER: And then the other thing Inhofe said was that he didn’t like her comments back in I guess it was in the ‘90s about the Senate confirmation process being vacuous.

AXELROD: Well she may not be the first to make such an observation. And obviously the, the process itself from here on is an opportunity for Senators personally in interviews with her and in the hearings to ask all of these questions and my hope is that most of them refrain from making a judgment until they can ask her these questions. I think they’ll find her answers are, are, are persuasive.

TAPPER: About half the country is Protestant.  This appointment will mean there are no Protestants on the court at all. Is that at all a consideration?

AXELROD: I don’t think the president applied a religious litmus test to this appointment. He was looking for the person who combined the best qualities, that could be the best justice at this time, and it turned out to be Elena Kagan and the fact that her faith was not, was not an issue.

TAPPER: I guess some people may say diversity always seems to be important when having a court or a congress or whatever that looks like America – a cabinet – that always seems to be important when reaching out to minorities. But what happens when the majority is completely excluded from one of the branches of government?

AXELROD: Well you can segment the, you can segment our society in many different ways and make those kinds of judgments. At the end of the day the president made this judgment based on who he thought would be the best justice on the United States Supreme Court now and for a generation to come and Elena Kagan was the standout nominee.

TAPPER: She was rumored or it was said, people close to the president said from the very beginning that she was the front runner. Was she pretty much always in the top spot?

AXELROD: No, I think she was always among the front runners for this position. He interviewed he last time, he knows her well, she served this administration well. But as he has with other appointments, the president gave very strong consideration to a number of nominees. As late as this weekend he was still pondering. And as late as Friday he was talking to at least one of the other candidates. So he gave  this a lot of consideration and while he always thought Elena was a strong possibility, he wanted to test his suppositions and he also wanted to explore other options. And I’m sure that some of the people he, that he talked to this time, will be on the list next time if we have another opportunity.

TAPPER: They’ve known each other for almost 20 years, being on the faulty together at the University of Chicago law school, did that play a role in the fact that he’s known her for so long?

AXELROD: Well I think more than that he’s known her for so long, is that he’s known of her for so long.  Because she’s had a stellar reputation for 20 years, she’s was writing about the law in the early ‘90’s in ways that gained national attention. So she’s been known to him for a long time.  The fact that they were appointed at the University of Chicago is not as important as the fact that she’s been such a stellar performer in everything she’s done over the years.

TAPPER: Finally, because she – I guess there are pluses and minuses when you reach out to somebody who has not been a judge. You want somebody who has different types of experiences but at the same time, she doesn’t have much of a track record in terms of offering her own opinion. She’s been offering other people’s opinions, whether President Obama or President Clinton – the faculty at Harvard law school. What do you say to those who say you really don’t know what she thinks about issues?

AXELROD: Well I would say there is a 20 year or more body at work in terms of her writings, her speeches, the advice she’s given others. And and the work she’s done. That gives people quite a bit of insight on how she approaches the law. And of course that’s what hearings are for as well and she’ll have a chance,  of course Senators will have a chance to explore these issues with her.

TAPPER: Tell me about, the president has had at least it the past year, two I would think fairly intense conversations about the constitution –

AXELROD: Yea, she — I think the president is a pretty keen student of this having been a constitutional law professor himself. And he’s had a series of discussions with her, but as will every member of the United States Senate who wants to in that panel, and they will learn he believes, that she has a very rich and deep appreciation for the constitution, understanding of it, and a sense that our system of justice should give everyone a fair shake, not just the powerful, but every, everyday people.

TAPPER: And do you think she will be confirmed?

AXELROD: I am confident that she will be confirmed. You know if, if she’s judged on the merits she will be judged overwhelmingly.

- Jake Tapper