I think Jim Miller has this one about right

Machine Politics And The Sotomayor And Kagan Judicial Picks:  In 2008, David Freddoso argued that Obama was best understood, not through his unusual ancestry, but through his "political pedigree", a mix of 1960s radicalism and machine politics.

What strikes me about Obama's two Supreme Court nominees, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, is that they are the kind of picks a machine politician would make.

To get an idea of what kind of judges a machine politician would want, let's go back to the original Mayor Daley, and one of his strongest supporters, Vito Marzullo.  Here's how Mike Royko introduced Marzullo in Boss, his biography of Mayor Daley.

Vito Marzullo is a ward committeeman and an alderman.  He was born in Italy and has an elementary education, but for years when he arrived at political functions, a judge walked a few steps behind him, moving ahead when there was a door to be opened.  Marzullo had put him on the bench. (pp. 67-68)

Judgeships were patronage positions, given out to lawyers who were strong supporters of the machine.   Because they were so valuable, the lawyers had to prove their loyalty over the years, and almost always had to be a friend of the party official who controlled their appointment.

Because the Chicago machine relied on many ethnic groups for support, they tried to choose judges, like candidates, for ethnic balance.  Now, achieving that balance is more complicated, because the Democratic party also has to satisfy feminists, gays, et cetera, but the basic idea is the same: The party wins votes by choosing representatives of various groups for top positions.  Taxes and crime may be high, but many voters will be satisfied if they can see someone they identify with in court, or on the city council.

When the judges are in office, a machine expects them to follow party policy, just as it expects everyone else who owes their jobs to the political machine to follow party policy.  In other words, the machine's judges are not supposed to think of themselves as independent of the machine, regardless of what the law may say.

Typically, the judges chosen by political machines are undistinguished, as you would expect, given that kind of selection process.

By now, you can probably see that the first Mayor Daley would understand exactly why Obama picked Sotomayor; she is a representative of two constituencies, Latinos and feminists.  A white male judge of English ancestry with identical accomplishments and views would never have been considered for the position.  She was chosen because of her ancestry, and because she emphasized it with her disgraceful claim that a "wise Latina" would be a better judge than a white guy.  (Not that long ago, most people of Puerto Rican descent in the United States did not think of themselves as Latino, so it was important to Obama that she did, or at least said she did.)

Kagan, too, was chosen because she represents several constituencies, feminists, again, of course.  The Obama administration is especially sensitive on that point because of his long primary fight with Clinton.)  She also represents Jews, who were extremely important to political machines in the past, and still are in a few places.  (Reports that she is a closeted lesbian, whether true or not — I have no idea whether they are, and don't much care — were probably another plus, as long as she stayed in the closet.)  She also represents leftist academics.  We don't usually think of them as an ethnic group, but, given their frequently tribal behavior, that's often appropriate.

Sotomayor has had an undistinguished judicial career; Kagan has had an undistinguished academic career, with few important publications.  Both, however, have shown that they can be good politicians, in fact, Kagan has shown that she is an exceptional academic politician.

Neither is likely to be a distinguished justice.  Obama won't mind that; they were chosen because he believes they will support his policies on the court, and because their nominations can be used in his 2012 campaign.

(If Obama gets another Supreme Court pick, what kind of person will he choose?  Mostly likely someone of East Asian descent, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, or Korean.  And this time it might be a man.

Of course, I very much hope that he does not get another pick, but I do think that we'll see many lower court appointments from those groups.)

- 10:55 AM, 7 August 2010   [link]