Bush 43 names Judge John G. Roberts Jr. to be his nominee to replace Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court

Roberts is a longtime Washingtonian having worked for the Reagan and Bush 41 administrations in various capacities. He also clerked for Chief Justice Rehnquist for a time. Roberts currently serves on the US Court of Appeals for the DC circuit.

Considering the current idealogical breakdown on the high court, there is going to be a lot of focus on how Roberts views Roe v. Wade. Ed Kilgore points out the following over at TPM Cafe:

"In the 1991 brief, Roberts was reflecting the Bush 41 position, forced on Bush 41 by the Cultural Right during his struggle for the presidential nomination in 1988, that Roe should be overturned. Maybe he personally agreed with it, maybe not; lawyers are trained to advocate for their clients no matter what they think."

Roberts could be the stealth candidate some conservatives were hoping for. Since much of his career has been spent representing the views of others, we'll have to wait until the hearings to learn more about his views.

The White House is likely hoping the nomination knocks the CIA leak story off the radar. In his prime time address, the president asked for a speedy confirmation process so Roberts could be confirmed by the time the Supreme Court reconvenes in October. However, the Senate won't take up the nomination until after the August recess. Therefore, I give the story a day or two on the front pages, and then we probably won't hear much about it until September except for the occasional spat between talking heads on the talk shows.