Jan Crawford Greenburg of ABC News offers some interesting insights from “sources close to the process” on who’s on the White House’s short list for the Supreme Court nomination and how the process may unfold. Some excerpts:

The White House has formalized its short list of Supreme Court contenders and asked six prospects to provide personal background information….
The leading contenders on the short list: federal appeals court Judges Sonia Sotomayor and Diane Wood, and Solicitor General Elena Kagan….
No clear favorite has emerged, but the pick has prompted an internal struggle between legal and political officials within the administration, sources say.
Political officials like Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel are favoring Sotomayor, who would be an historic pick as the Court’s first Hispanic justice.…
Legal officials in the Administration want Obama to tap a candidate who would be a more obvious force on the Court, bringing both intellectual prowess and a proven ability to build coalitions. They favor either Kagan or Wood—prospects who could be considered judicial rock stars [????] capable of going toe to toe with Scalia and Roberts.