year because that could be the second bloodbath this year. i guess the fallout i m wondering about is this. a guy like orrin hatch. sonia sotomayor is the first-ever supreme court nominee that orrin hatch voted against whether it was a democratic nominee or i had somebody tell me that s because he saw what was happening to bon bennett in utah and has made the turn. while other republicans senators realized as much as maybe they supported elena kagan the first time and say i can t cast any vote with obama right now. i think that s right. orrin hatch has told people privately, if i were up this year, i don t think i could win a primary. that s what s so fascinating about this nomination. orrin hatch? this is not he s no moderate republican. absolutely. but the thing is, part of it, that this anger is so white hot and you re right, it s conservative but it s anti-washington. and it s like wall street and washington have been meshed together. but i think part of what s happenin
be that counter weight. why what does kagan bring that somehow make her not just a counter weight to roberts but maybe the person who figures out how to bring justice kennedy over to 5-4 decisions? i guess his thinking was number one, she s obviously very, very bright and has a reputation as a very gifted academic and intellectual powerhouse on the law. a long tradition on handling legal issues both in academia and in government. secondly, because of her experience, the harvard experience, she s considered somebody who can help build bridges. those may be two of factors the president was looking at. capitol hill correspondent kelly o donnell and our chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell host of andrea mitchell reports here on msnbc. kelly, the other factor when you hear the words elena kagan, she s confirmable. tell us about the republican road and the number of votes that democrats think they can
back to our big story. elena kagan expected to be the president s supreme court nominee. the announcement expected in about a half hour from now. when she graduated hunter college high school, she appeared in her yearbook photo in a judge s robe holding a gavel and underneath a quote that read government is in itself an art, one of the subtlest of arts. we re going to be sprinkling them in throughout our coverage. that is one to grow on when it comes to learning who elena kagan is. bob bennett s ouster this weekend not good news for any candidate with incumbent attached to their name.
get from the republican side of the aisle on her. good morning, chuck. one of the easiestest things to look at is one year ago in march of 2009 when kagan was confirmed as solicitor general. what did the vote count look like then? she received 61 yeas and among those seven republicans. two of them orrin hatch of utah, jon kyl of arizona were guests of the president at the white house just days ago in private personal meetings there. perhaps a signal of perhaps the president wanting to build some of their support behind kagan in this next process. all 31 votes that went against her were republicans. so when we talk to people here, we get a sense she has some republican support. those who voted against her last year will likely vote against her now. the big question would be, there is a little bit of a change in the makeup of the senate since that time. and you have to look at what will come out during the confirmation process. at 10:30 this morning, patrick leahy, the democratic care
expect this week among all the theater a lot of the senators started by discussing whether her lack of experience as a judge is a plus or a minus. elena kagan earned her place at the top of the legal profession. her legal qualifications are unassailable. ms. kagan has less real legal experience of any nominee in at least 50 years. and it s not just that the nominee has not been a judge. she has barely practiced law and not with the intensity and duration from which i think real legal understanding occurs. but we have less evidence about what sort of judge you will be than on any nominee in recent memory. your judicial philosophy is almost invisible to us. i believe the burden is on the nominee to show that her record demonstrates that she can be a fair and impartial justice. you come with no judicial record, but you are not the first person to come before the committee without having been a judge. but it does, i think, require us