[mhking]

I would bet on Scalia as CJ.

Yep. Either Scalia or Thomas.

[iconoclast]

But in the end, sources tell NEWSWEEK, White House officials rejected the idea (of Scalia for Chief Justice), concluding that the brilliant but pugnacious justice would not be a consensus builder—an important quality for a chief justice. “We discussed it seriously, but rejected it definitively,” says a source familiar with the process.

I sense the hand of the ubiquitous Karl Rove here. Rule nothing out.

It appears that this woman would be a superlative choice for the SC but I would not like to see her, or anyone else, elevated directly to Chief Justice. We have too often watched individuals "grow" after they get to DC, especially in the case of a lifetime appointment.

[lepton]

Yep. Either Scalia or Thomas.

Thomas has the mind for it, but I'm not so sure he has the personality for it. He likes to sit back and listen, and press his intellect to analysis of what is said and the law, rather than to speak up. His rulings are generally quite elegant, but that's a different talent.