Luttig is with the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. He has reinstated Virginia's ban on partial-birth abortion, and has issued other decisions that warm the hearts of the pro-life lobby.
Regarding Ashcroft, the nomination of a prosecutor with no experience on the bench is not without precedent. Antonin Scalia and William Rehnquist had no previous judicial experience, both having served as assistant US attorney general -- Scalia for three years and Rehnquist for two.
I am skeptical about the nomination of George H.W. Bush as a Supreme Court justice. At this point, the ideological conservatives in the party are adamant about putting pro-life judges on the Court who will be there, issuing pro-life decisions, for the next 30 years. He fails on two counts: he's too old, and he's not sufficiently pro-life.
The Taft precedent and the "spirit of civility" thing might move X41's name into the limelight, if a particularly nasty confirmation fight loomed -- d/o outcomes tomorrow in the Senate.
And it isn't beyond the realm of possibility either, that if Kerry squeaked in (or stole it) but didn't get a majority in the Senate, that he might put up X41 as a fellow Yankee patrician, fellow Yalie and Bonesman, who could be counted on to roll left ("moderate" in Mediaspeak) when it mattered. Particularly if the Bush nomination for an Associate Justice slot helped him get Ginzburg or Souter into the CJ job, and opened the door for his likely nomination of Mario Cuomo or someone equally capable of rolling votes, Billy Brennan style, later on. Although if Kerry got the job, and the Senate, I think he might be inclined to nominate either Mr. Peanut or a young liberal from the Ninth Circuit fruits-and-nuts squad.
I agree Bush's nominating X41 wouldn't be palatable to conservatives, but he might just do it anyway. Wait and see.