level. she s, you know, she has worked at high levels in government. she was not only an outstanding law professor but the first woman to be named dean of harvard law school and conservatives like charles freed under ronald reagan have written glowing reports about her deanship. she was on the short list to be a president of harvard university. good for her she wasn t selected. she would have never made to the supreme court. she has outstanding credentials. every person on the supreme court beyond her came up through the court of appeals. we wanted somebody with different kind of experience. obama chosen someone like that. i want to get james back to respond to david. you say she is the dean of harvard law school. sure she was. you know what the dean does? she raises money. why does raising money make you qualified to nominated to the supreme court? if you re an academic and this is what i don t understand. where are the brightest left wing jurorists? we have scalia on the court.
enthusiastically endorsed the conclusion reached by justice scalia in a 5-4 decision, paying the position that at the time would not have been regarded as the liberal view. so i think elena really is a pragmatist and a serious legal their and is not in any way an idealogue. you taught at the university of chicago when she taught there and president obama was a young law professor there as well. talk a little bit, if you can, about the differences between president obama as a law professor and elena kagan as a law professor. she got higher ratings. although obama may have been the second most popular teacher in the school. and then came stone and, you know, i was way down there somewhere. no, the students loved her because she is just such a warm and generous and outgoing person. she showed a lot of concern about them at the same time she was demanding a lot from them. and you know, i think that s the key to her leadership. what did she teach?
the efficient life is the good life. the court is an extraordinary institution. and the work it does and in the work it can do for the american people by advancing the tenants of our constitution, by upholding the rule of law and by enabling all americans regardless of their background or their beliefs to get a fair hearing and equal chance at justice. elena kagan, the supreme court nominee speaking today after the president introduced her. probably not going to hear much from her until the confirmation hearings before the senate judiciary committee. we re joined now by james carville, our cnn contributor, bay buchanan, republican strategist and conservative activist, president of the american cause and david gergen, our senior political analyst,
northwestern university. he taught with elena kagan and president obama at the university of chicago. thanks to all of you for coming n i want to pick your brain on what she s like, what she s all b josh, let me start with you. you worked with her in the clinton white house. what s she like? smart as a whip. fair. aggressive. and, you know, we worked closely together on tobacco and tobacco legislation. how to keep it out of the hands of kids and standing up against hate crimes. she is incredibly fair and at harvard where she was my dean, continued to show can you build consensus and do the right thing. you mean a liberal? no, i would say on a whole host of issues. professor stone, you were with her at the university of chicago. what impressed you? well, elena is smart. she is tough minded,
privilege to go to harvard law school. i m a product of the elite schools. i agree with james, it s important to have all parts of the country and there are many other law schools. bay buchanan has a child at stanford, first class law school. there are many other law schools. i do think that. but i also want to put in a word for elena kagan who is an excellent nominee. she is no harriet miers, come on, give me a break. she clerked at the court of appeal level. she clerked at the supreme court level. she s, you know, she has worked at high levels in government. she was not only an outstanding law professor but the first woman to be named dean of harvard law school and conservatives like charles freed under ronald reagan have written glowing reports about her deanship. she was on the short list to be a president of harvard university. good for her she wasn t selected. she would have never made to the