On gender and faith:

Does it matter if he puts a Catholic or a Jewish person or someone of another faith on a court, there might—there would be no Protestants on the Supreme Court. Does that matter? Does there need to be another woman on the court?

On political leanings:

Because Justice Stevens was part of the four-person progressive block, he will of course nominate someone who will be part of that. We've seen the hard way in the Citizens United case and campaign finance and in Bush v. Gore, during the most bizarre rulings in the history of the Supreme Court and I think one of the five worst, what the consequences of that are.

He pointed out what a great pick George Mitchell, a Senator when Clinton wanted to appoint him, would have made.

He must have a few people in mind, and I'd bet he's been asked for his view -- or provided it even if not asked. Given the number of Obama advisers who come from Clinton's Justice Department, and who likely are still in touch with Clinton or Clinton's current top aides, does his opinion carry extra weight?