Bill Clinton: “No, I think, Judge Breyer actually has quite a lot of political savvy, and I would say two things. First of all, as you…”

“No, I think, Judge Breyer actually has quite a lot of political savvy, and I would say two things. First of all, as you know, when I talked about Senator Mitchell, I would not have offered the position to Senator Mitchell if he were running for reelection and were willing to stay as majority leader of the Senate. And I felt the same way in the end about Secretary Babbitt. I mean, here's a man that is dealing with issues of incredible magnitude, especially in the West, a very important part of our country. And so I just couldn't bear to think about that. And then, the more I thought about Steve Breyer and the time I spent with him last time I had a vacancy on the Court, the more I realized he had proved that he had the kind of political capacity and judgment we need because he'd been exposed to the full range of issues working here as the chief of staff of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He obviously has a lot of political skills because of his reputation as a consensus builder on a court where most of the appointees were made by Republican Presidents. And look at the people supporting his nomination. I mean, he's gotten Senator Kennedy and Senator Hatch together. I wish I had that kind of political skill. [Laughter]”