Elektronaut
Effectively Stood Down
- Location
- The Legendarium of Gentleman Julius
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Saying Thomas was the first choice for the Brennan seat, and Garza the first choice for the Marshall seat is stretching the definition of 'first choice' so loosely that it becomes meaningless. In an alternate reality where they were both better-positioned, Thomas may have been more seriously considered for the Brennan seat, and Garza may have been more seriously considered for the Marshall seat. But IOTL, they weren't the first choices or anything close to that.
Thomas was dismissed from serious consideration by everybody in 1990 at the first stage after names had been gathered, because while his politics were very well-known as a former Reagan-Bush official, he had almost no judicial experience to even out the scales at that point, having just started his work on the DC circuit. It was felt that he was too obviously political and could just be criticised as an appointee practically straight from the administration. The serious consideration focused on Edith Jones and Souter, and Souter won out largely because he was seen as much more capable of passing confirmation. They really wanted to avoid another Bork situation, and Edith Jones is/was Edith Jones.
Garza in 1991 was always behind Thomas in the running at every stage, as I outlined above.
Thornburgh left the administration and ran for the Senate in November in 1991. He was generally considered to be someone who might have had presidential ambitions in the right circumstances. He'd previously considered challenging Arlen Specter in 1986 for the Republican Senate nomination, when he was the outgoing governor.
Thomas was dismissed from serious consideration by everybody in 1990 at the first stage after names had been gathered, because while his politics were very well-known as a former Reagan-Bush official, he had almost no judicial experience to even out the scales at that point, having just started his work on the DC circuit. It was felt that he was too obviously political and could just be criticised as an appointee practically straight from the administration. The serious consideration focused on Edith Jones and Souter, and Souter won out largely because he was seen as much more capable of passing confirmation. They really wanted to avoid another Bork situation, and Edith Jones is/was Edith Jones.
Garza in 1991 was always behind Thomas in the running at every stage, as I outlined above.
Thornburgh left the administration and ran for the Senate in November in 1991. He was generally considered to be someone who might have had presidential ambitions in the right circumstances. He'd previously considered challenging Arlen Specter in 1986 for the Republican Senate nomination, when he was the outgoing governor.
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