Obama will pick Supreme Court nominee soon

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President Obama said today that he would recommend an appointee for the Supreme Court soon.

Obama, weighing a field of as many as 10 potential candidates -- with most observers believing the real search is focused on only a few -- has a number of women in his sights, including Elena Kagan, the U.S. solicitor general, and Diane Wood, a federal judge in Chicago.

The president has started personally telephoning some of the candidates. Obama -- fielding some questions from reporters after a meeting with Senate leaders at the White House on Wednesday morning -- was asked about the issue of abortion rights.

‘I don’t have litmus tests around any of these issues,’’ Obama replied. ‘But I want somebody who will be interpreting our Constitution in a way that takes into account individual rights, and that includes women’s rights.’’ Individuals are ‘protected in their privacy,’’ the president said, ‘and women are not exempt from that.’’

-- Mark Silva