Selecting an experienced, sitting judge for the Supreme Court instead of an inexperienced former employee…what a novel idea!
Update: “In a recent column I suggested that all the fuss about Harriet Meirs’ credentials and by implication her intelligence, which is probably higher than many of her critics, is a distraction. What matters is not that she have previous experience as a judge or be several standard deviations to the right on the Bell Curve, but that she have an originalist judicial philosophy.” — Red Phillips.
Regarding the “separation of church and state” issue, see Incompatible Kerry’s Immaculate Deception.