Player of the week: Elena Kagan, court nominee

President Obama has suffered some setbacks in recent months, but the nomination of Elena Kagan has not been one of them. 

The White House and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) have skillfully handled her nomination. 

Kagan, a former dean at Harvard Law School, performed well before Leahy’s panel earlier this year. She answered questions on her decision to restrict military recruiters at Harvard in a way that made the controversy subside rather than reignite.

She also displayed her personality and sense of humor to good effect. Asked by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) where she was on Christmas, 2009 — in reference to the Christmas Day bomber — Kagan responded, “Like all Jews, I was probably at a Chinese restaurant.”

She will be confirmed easily this week, but there are still some interesting developments to watch as the upper chamber starts debate. 

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), a GOP target in 2012, has announced that he will oppose Kagan. Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), a Republican target this fall, has not said which way she will vote. Both she and Nelson backed the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor last year.

Sotomayor attracted nine Republican votes. Kagan has the backing of five so far, including Sens. Graham, Richard Lugar (Ind.), Olympia Snowe (Maine), Susan Collins (Maine) and Judd Gregg (N.H.).

Republicans have not ruled out a filibuster, but it’s unlikely. The nominee has the votes to overcome such a maneuver, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has repeatedly pointed out that unlike the president and his Senate Democratic counterpart, he has never mounted a filibuster of a Supreme Court nominee.