Kagan Spin Cycle

White House Talkers On Elena Kagan’s Nomination Examined: “Main Street,” “Moderate Liberal,” Recruited Conservatives To Harvard, “Acclaimed Legal Scholar,” Consensus Building Mirrors Obama
TALKING POINT #1: Kagan “Is Main Street,” Has “Real-Life Experience”
“Senator Patrick J. Leahy, The Vermont Democrat Who Leads The Judiciary Committee, Praised Her Qualifications And ‘Real-Life Experience’ Outside The Courtroom.” (“Democrats Express Praise For Kagan,” The New York Times, 5/11/10)

VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: “She Is Main Street … She's deeply rooted in what you might call the ‘old neighborhood.’ This is a woman who's lived in the real world.” (“Biden Vouches For Kagan's 'Main Street' Credentials,” The Hill, 5/11/10)

FALSE: Kagan’s Experiences “Distant From Most Americans”
“Obama Promised Judges With At Least A Passing Knowledge Of The ‘Real World,’ But Kagan’s Experience Draws From A World Whose Signposts Are Distant From Most Americans: Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Princeton University, Harvard Law School And The Upper Reaches Of The Democratic Legal Establishment.” (“Is Kagan From The 'Real World'?” Politico, 5/11/10)

POLITIFACT: “It’s Fair To Say That Kagan Has Spent The Bulk Of Her Professional Career In Academia At The University Of Chicago And Harvard Law School, And At Various Positions Inside The Beltway. … [Sen. John] Cornyn's claim that Kagan ‘has spent her entire professional career in Harvard Square, Hyde Park and the D.C. Beltway’ is True.” (“Republicans Say Supreme Court Nominee Elena Kagan Is A Product Of Harvard Square, Hyde Park And The D.C. Beltway,” PolitiFact, 5/10/10)

TALKING POINT #2:Kagan Is “A Moderate Liberal”
“People Who Have Been Close To Kagan Consistently Describe Her As A Moderate Liberal…” (“For Supreme Court Nominee Elena Kagan, A History Of Pragmatism Over Partisanship,” The Washington Post, 5/11/10)

FALSE: The White House’s Own Overseer Of The Selection Says “Elena Is Clearly A Legal Progressive”; In College She Lamented The Decline Of The Socialist Movement
“‘Elena Is Clearly A Legal Progressive,’ Said Ron Klain, Chief Of Staff To Vice President Joe Biden, Who Helped Oversee The Nomination Process.” (“Kagan's Scant Writings Spark Concern,” Politico, 5/10/10)

“As A History Major, Ms. Kagan Dove Into The Roots Of American Radicalism In A Senior Thesis Titled ‘To The Final Conflict: Socialism In New York City, 1900-1933.’ In the acknowledgments, she thanked her brother Marc, whose ‘involvement in radical causes,’ she wrote, ‘led me to explore the history of American radicalism in the hope of clarifying my own political ideas.’” (“A Pragmatic New Yorker On A Careful Path To Washington,” The New York Times, 5/11/10)

“In 153 Pages, The Paper Examines Why, Despite The Rise Of The Labor Movement, The Socialist Party Lost Political Traction In The United States — A Loss That She Attributed To Fissures And Feuding Within The Movement. ‘The Story Is A Sad But Also A Chastening One For Those Who, More Than Half A Century After Socialism’s Decline, Still Wish To Change America,’ She Wrote.” (“A Pragmatic New Yorker On A Careful Path To Washington,” The New York Times, 5/11/10)

TALKING POINT #3: To Improve The Harvard Faculty’s “One-Sided In Its Viewpoint” Kagan Recruited A Significant Number Of Conservatives
PRESIDENT OBAMA: “At A Time When Many Believed That The Harvard Faculty Had Gotten A Little One-Sided In Its Viewpoint, She Sought To Recruit Prominent Conservative Scholars And Spur A Healthy Debate On Campus.” (President Obama, Remarks, 5/10/10)

FALSE: Kagan Hired 43 Faculty Members At Harvard And Only Three Are Identifiably Conservative
“When She Became Dean, In July 2003, There Were 81 Full-Time Permanent Members Of The Faculty, According To The Law School. By The Time She Left, In March 2009, She Had Added 43.” (“A Climb Marked By Confidence And Canniness,” The New York Times, 4/15/10)

“At Harvard, Kagan Won Praise From Conservatives By Hiring Several New, Right-Leaning Faculty Members To A School Known As A Liberal Bastion, Including Jack Goldsmith, An International Law Expert Who Was A Lawyer In The Administration Of George W. Bush; Adrian Vermeule, A Former Clerk To Justice Antonin Scalia; And John Manning, Onetime Clerk For Conservative Robert Bork, The Failed Supreme Court Nominee.” (“As Potential Pick For Court, Kagan Gets Fire From Left,” The Boston Globe, 4/15/10)

TALKING POINT #4: Kagan “An Acclaimed Legal Scholar”
PRESIDENT OBAMA: “She’s An Acclaimed Legal Scholar With A Rich Understanding Of Constitutional Law.” (President Obama, Remarks, 5/10/10)

FALSE: “She’s Published Very Little Academic Scholarship,” “Written Output Was Limited”
“She [Kagan] Published Articles, Including Two Submissions On The First Amendment, But Her Written Output Was Limited, Colleagues Said.” (“For Supreme Court Nominee Elena Kagan, A History Of Pragmatism Over Partisanship,” The Washington Post, 5/11/10)

DAVID BROOKS: “Her Publication Record Is Scant And Carefully Nonideological. She Has Published Five Scholarly Review Articles, Mostly On Administrative Law And The First Amendment. These articles were mostly on technical and procedural issues.” (David Brooks, “What It Takes,” The New York Times, 5/11/10)

PAUL CAMPOS: “Yesterday, I Read Everything Elena Kagan Has Ever Published. It Didn't Take Long: In The Nearly 20 Years Since Kagan Became A Law Professor, She's Published Very Little Academic Scholarship—Three Law Review Articles, Along With A Couple Of Shorter Essays And Two Brief Book Reviews.” (“The Next Harriet Miers?” The Daily Beast, 5/1/10)

TALKING POINT #5: Kagan’s Consensus Building Skills “Mirror Those Mr. Obama Sees In Himself.”
“In Some Respects, Ms. Kagan’s Traits — Her Desire To Build Consensus Through Persuasion, Her People Skills, Her Ability To Listen To Others — Mirror Those Mr. Obama Sees In Himself.” (“A Pragmatic New Yorker On A Careful Path To Washington,” The New York Times, 5/11/10)

CORRECT: Poll Today Shows American Opinions Under President Obama To Be “The Most Polarized … In Gallup History”
“[Obama’s] First-Year Ratings Were The Most Polarized For A President In Gallup History, With An Average 65-Point Gap Between Republicans And Democrats. Obama's approval ratings have become slightly more polarized thus far in his second year in office, with an average 69-point gap between Democrats (83%) and Republicans (14%) since late January.” (“Obama Approval Continues To Show Party, Age, Race Gaps,” Gallup, 5/11/10)

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