David Garrow Trying Quotations

The No. 1 thing is that this is the entire court - especially O'Connor - again trying to turn down the temperature on the issue and force both sides toward the middle. This is the court saying: We don't want to give either side all or nothing. We're going to force you to split the loaf.

The overarching theme in the questionnaire, I think, is trying too hard to gin herself up, ... She makes it sound like the White House counsel's office is the solicitor general, which it's not. She's presenting it as an office with major constitutional responsibility.