[GOLAGLULT]

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/poli...s__thats_.html

Bad news for Obama: Conservative Justice Kennedy tells pals he's in no rush to leave Supreme Court

BY Thomas M. Defrank
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF

Originally Published:Tuesday, July 6th 2010, 4:00 AM
Updated: Tuesday, July 6th 2010, 12:56 PM

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy likely will be around to provide a fifth vote for the court's conservative bloc through the 2012 election, which is bad news for President Obama.

WASHINGTON - President Obama may get liberal Elena Kagan on the Supreme Court, but conservative swing-voter Anthony Kennedy says he's not going anywhere anytime soon.

Justice Kennedy, who turns 74 this month, has told relatives and friends he plans to stay on the high court for at least three more years - through the end of Obama's first term, sources said.

That means Kennedy will be around to provide a fifth vote for the court's conservative bloc through the 2012 presidential election. If Obama loses, Kennedy could retire and expect a Republican President to choose a conservative justice.

Kennedy, appointed by President Ronald Reagan, has been on the court 22 years. He has become a bit of a political nemesis at the White House for his increasing tendency to side with the court's four rock-ribbed conservative justices.



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/poli...#ixzz0sx6TAe8S