That’s the title of my new Confirmation Tales post, which illustrates how a president’s delay in making a Supreme Court pick can create a perilous limbo:

On May 4, just three days after Souter’s announcement, Jeffrey Rosen, the influential Supreme Court commentator at the then-influential New Republic, published a piece that the New Republic titled “The Case Against Sotomayor.” The essence of Rosen’s article was that Democrats who had worked with her and who wanted Obama “to appoint a judicial star of the highest intellectual caliber” believed that Sotomayor fell far short of the mark.

Liberal infighting ensued over the next three weeks, until Barack Obama finally picked Sotomayor.

My post also presents an interesting partisan divide on how quickly presidents act. Across their past six nominations, Democratic presidents have taken an average of 40 days to make their picks. Recent Republican presidents have averaged fewer than 10 days.

I invite you to sign up for Confirmation Tales.