Gov. Gregoire has skills to be U.S. solicitor general

GOV. Chris Gregoire is a possible candidate for U.S. solicitor general.

Gregoire's considerable legal skills and accomplishments make her a natural to be mentioned on the shortlist for succeeding Elena Kagan, President Obama's nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Before her 2004 election as governor, Gregoire served Washington ably as its attorney general for 12 years. She was the lead attorney in the landmark multistate lawsuit against the tobacco companies and vigilantly held the federal government's feet to the fire over its obligations to clean up the Hanford nuclear reservation, dating back more than 25 years to her days as director of the state Department of Ecology.

As testament to Gregoire's national legal cred, The New York Times veteran Supreme Court reporter Linda Greenhouse, now retired, volunteered on a visit to Seattle not long ago that the governor would be a good candidate for the court.

The solicitor general, sometimes described as the high court's "10th justice," represents the president and the United States in litigation before the U.S. Supreme Court and supervises litigation in the federal appellate courts.

The governor has demurred, saying she would like to see the state through the difficult economy, though she is not ruling out the possibility.

If the job were offered, Gregoire would be only the latest Washington talent the Obama administration has tried to glean. Former Gov. Gary Locke is commerce secretary, former Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske is the nation's drug czar and former King County Executive Ron Sims is in a key Housing and Urban Development position.

This kind of attention is flattering to the state and to Gregoire, whose skills as a negotiator and litigator make her especially well-suited to this job.