President Barack Obama will nominate a centrist to the Supreme Court to win support of the Republican-controlled Senate, political strategist Dick Morris told
Newsmax TV on Tuesday.
"The moderates will all hail at that point because he really will be a moderate," Morris told "The Steve Malzberg Show" in an interview. "Nobody will be able to know how he's going to vote."
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That nominee will most likely be Sri Srinivasan, who currently serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Morris said.
Born in India, Srinivasan, 48, clerked for retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. He also was confirmed unanimously to the appellate bench less than three years ago.
But Srinivasan will not sit well with the Republican Party's conservative wing, Morris told Malzberg.
"The Republican right-wingers are going to say: 'Hey, we're losing [Antonin] Scalia, the standard bearer of our cause. We want another strong conservative — and we're not going to confirm anybody until the presidential election is over.'
"The only thing that could avert that is if the Republican nominee, who probably will be chosen — in effect — in a month or two, asks Senate Republicans not to move on a confirmation," Morris said. "I think they'll all follow his lead."