Bipartisan praise, smooth ride for Kagan so far

WASHINGTON - Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan won praise from skeptical senators in both parties yesterday, building momentum toward what for now appears a smooth road to confirmation.

In her second full day of one-on-one meetings on Capitol Hill, Kagan scored points for candor with one-time critic Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) and convinced Republican Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts that she's a strong supporter of the military, despite her move as Harvard Law School dean to bar recruiters from a campus center because of discrimination against gays.

Neither senator committed to voting for the solicitor general, whom President Barack Obama has tapped to succeed Justice John Paul Stevens. But the positive reviews suggested Kagan is making a strong case for herself as she calls on the senators whose votes she'll need to be confirmed.

Most Democrats are giving Kagan rave reviews. Sen. Charles Schumer of New York called her a moderate and said she is "able to combine brilliance and practicality. That's a rare combination."

Specter said, "It was a very good meeting, and I think she was very forthcoming." The Pennsylvanian is days from a tough primary election in which his Democratic opponent has made an issue of his vote last year against confirming Kagan to her current post.

Specter, who was a Republican then, has said he opposed her because she wouldn't answer questions about how she'd approach cases. Yesterday, however, he said Kagan was far more responsive, even criticizing a January Supreme Court ruling that upheld the First Amendment rights of corporations and labor unions to spend money on campaign ads, enhancing their ability to influence federal elections.

"She said she thought the court was not sufficiently deferential to Congress," Specter said after the session. He called her "a good candidate" with excellent credentials.

Kagan also made headway with Brown, who opened their meeting by raising concerns about the military recruitment flap.

"It was very clear to me after we spoke about it at length that she is supportive of the men and women who are fighting to protect us, and very supportive of the military as a whole," said Brown, a military lawyer in his state's Army National Guard.