White House Counsel Greg Craig and Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel stood to Obama's right beaming as the president described what he would be looking for in Souter's successor. It was the standard-issue list of qualifications every chief executive presents: legal experience or extensive legal training, spotless ethical record and devotion to the rule of law.
And as he did during the campaign, Obama added this qualification: empathy.
"I will seek someone who understands that justice isn't about some abstract legal theory or footnote in a casebook; it is also about how our laws affect the daily realities of people's lives, whether they can make a living and care for their families, whether they feel safe in their homes and welcome in their own nation," Obama said. "I view that quality of empathy, of understanding and identifying with people's hopes and struggles, as an essential ingredient for arriving at just decisions and outcomes."
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