In these and many more cases, Kethledge has been faithful for more than a decade to the originalist approach. White House staffers will have read every word of Kethledge’s many writings, and they will conclude: Gorsuch 2.0, especially with regards to a willingness to challenge so-called Chevron deference toward the vast administrative state, a doctrine dangerous in its corrosive effect on self-government.

Kethledge is also not another Harvard Law or Yale Law attendee , and with eight of those remaining on the court — Ruth Bader Ginsburg got her J.D. from Columbia , but her first two years were spent in Cambridge — the University of Michigan Law School credential sends an important message to the country. (Full disclosure: It’s my law school alma mater too, but I’ve never met the judge except through his opinions.) Married 25 years and a man of faith, he’s also an avid hunter and fisherman, a not insignificant detail in these matters. Imagine Sen. Jon Tester or Sen. Heidi Heitkamp explaining to their voters this fall why they voted against an honest-to-God outdoorsman.