Ginsburg's 'Style Problems'

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, when she was simply a Supreme Court nominee, had a number of “performance problems,” a newly released White House memo from 1993 notes.

Written by Ron Klain, who handled President Bill Clinton’s judicial nominations, Ginsburg – just a week away from testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee – defended the American Civil Liberties Union way too much. “She has an instinct for defending some rather extreme liberal views,” offered Klain to David Gergen, then a counselor to the president and now a talking head on CNN.

Ginsburg also showed disdain for the confirmation process and didn’t like the White House presenting her as a moderate, Klain noted.

She had “style problems” as well. “Judge Ginsburg’s technique – and her failure to make eye contact, her halting speech, her ‘laconic’ nature (to use Jim Hamilton’s phrase) – is not helpful," Klain's memo said.