Parker: Elena Kagan is miles away from mainstream America

By Kathleen Parker

The magnificent author and son of the Great Santini, Pat Conroy, began “The Prince of Tides” with these words: “My wound is geography. It is also my anchorage, my port of call.”

Those 13 words imprinted on my brain when I first read them years ago and have stuck with me. Somewhat oddly, they came to mind upon the nomination of Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Much has been made of Kagan's career path and her professional trailblazing. Despite a lack of any judicial experience, she is the first of her sex in two previously male-dominated domains - first female dean of Harvard Law School and first female U.S. solicitor general.

No small accomplishments. But though we are what we do, what we do is not all of what we are. We are also products of place. Where we grew up and how we experienced the physical environment of our formation are also a part of who we are.

What is Kagan's geography? What is her anchorage, her port of call?

Coincidentally, she shares the same home town as the other two women on the court. Assuming Kagan is confirmed, all three women will hail from New York.

If diversity on the court is our goal, we may be missing a region or two.

Both current female justices and Kagan also attended Ivy League schools, not that there's anything wrong with that. But does a gender-mixed court featuring Kagan, Sotomayor and Ginsburg qualify as a diverse court because they are women? Or do these three represent ideological purity in a lace bib? The jury is still out.

President Obama has made clear his desire to nominate justices who are in touch with “ordinary Americans.” He specifically mentioned “empathy” in choosing Sotomayor. Before Kagan's nomination, Obama said he wanted someone with a “keen understanding of how the law affects the daily lives of the American people.” He wanted a justice who, like retiring Justice John Paul Stevens, “knows that in a democracy, powerful interests must not be allowed to drown out the voices of ordinary citizens.”

Enter Kagan?

Certainly New York City dwellers would argue that they struggle with ordinary concerns, just in a more dense environment. But New York, like other urban areas, tends to be more liberal than the vast rest of the country. More than half the country also happens to be Protestant, yet with Kagan, the court will feature three Jews, six Catholics and nary a Protestant.

But the president adheres to the ordinary-people principle, and so the question must be asked: Does Kagan meet the standard? She may have other qualifications, including her willingness at Harvard to invite conservative scholars to her faculty. But a New York City girl who attended a prep school, Ivy League colleges and law school can't be characterized as anything close to mainstream America.

Either Obama may want to tweak his operating narrative - or geography may well be Kagan's wound.

n Comments: kathleen

parker@washpost.com