[Republican Wildcat]

That would just be bizarre. He's in the same age range as the jurist that would step down due to age...

[Verginius Rufus]

Hatch was born 3/22/1934. He's younger than Rehnquist (b. 1924), Stevens (b. 1920), O'Connor (b. 1930) and Ginsburg (b. 1933), but older than Scalia, Kennedy, Souter, Breyer, and Thomas.

It's not likely that there will be any vacancies before 2005, unless someone dies or becomes very ill. It would probably be impossible to get someone confirmed in an election year. On the other hand, Hatch's age might cause the Democratic opposition to be less ferocious, if they don't expect him to be on the Court long.