Join us
the kicker

Crystal Balling Kagan

May 17, 2010

Sign up for The Media Today, CJR’s daily newsletter.

Question to the panel from Norah O’Donnell, standing in for Chris Matthews on yesterday’s Chris Matthews Show:

Bottom line, would you say that Elena Kagan will be a standout in President Obama’s legacy or a mere footnote?

While most of the roundtablers didn’t blink at being asked to weigh in on a yet-to-be-confirmed Supreme Court nominee’s effect on the legacy of a sixteen-months-into-the-job president, one Chris Matthews regular seemed to have some kind of crystal ball malfunction:

Katty Kay, BBC News Washington Correspondent: I think she has a chance of being a standout, a chance of doing that.

Pete Williams, NBC News Justice Correspondent: In terms of his presidency, yes, this will stand out. Third woman on the Supreme Court.

Joan Biskupic, USA Today Supreme Court Correspondent: Ditto. He will be here eight years tops and she will be here for maybe four decades.

Sign up for CJR’s daily email

Andrew Sullivan, Atlantic Senior Editor: I have no idea.

Has America ever needed a media defender more than now? Help us by joining CJR today.

Liz Cox Barrett is a writer at CJR.