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Marc Ambinder

Marc Ambinder - Marc Ambinder is the White House correspondent for National Journal and a contributing editor at The Atlantic. More

Marc Ambinder is the White House correspondent for National Journal. He previously served as the politics editor, and is now a contributing editor, for The Atlantic, where he curated the influential Politics channel on TheAtlantic.com and contributed to the magazine. He was also a chief political consultant to CBS News. Earlier, at NJ's Hotline, Ambinder was the founding editor of "Hotline On Call," a pathbreaking political news blog. He also worked as a producer and reporter for the ABC News Political Unit and was one of the founders of ABC's "The Note." Born in New York City, raised in Central Florida, Ambinder is a 2001 graduate of Harvard and lives in Washington, D.C.

A New SCOTUS Possibility: Carlos Moreno, 60

By Marc Ambinder
May 13 2009, 12:58 PM ET Comment

Carlos Moreno, a California State Supreme Court Justice, has emerged as one of several leading candidates to replace retiring Justice David Souter, an administration official and a Democratic lawyer with ties with the White House said.

Just a few weeks after he was elected, Obama asked a select group of close advisers to compile dossiers on several potential nominees. One of them was Carlos Moreno. Another was Sonia Sotomayor of the 2nd circuit.

The administration official would not say Moreno is on an official short list and would not provide other details.

Moreno, 60, is well pedigreed, with degrees from Yale and Stanford. He began his career as a deputy city attorney in Los Angeles, andas his official California Supreme Court bio puts it, "handl[ed] politically sensitive and legislative matters" in that role.

He was nominated as a federal judge by President Bill Clinton, served as president of Mexican-American bar association, and was nominated to the California Supreme Court by Gray Davis in 2001. The empathy factor? He's a foster parent.

Political drawbacks: he voted in favor of same-sex marriage when it came before the court in 2008, and he's a bit older than the other leading candidates.

Moreno is a favorite of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who recommended him to the White House.

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