Elena Kagan confirmed as newest Supreme Court Justice

By a vote of 63-37, the Senate today confirmed Elena Kagan as the newest Supreme Court Justice.  Predicting what will come of this is pointless, but several observations suggest that little will change immediately from this confirmation.  Kagan is believed to be liberal, but she replaces John Paul Stevens, the Justice viewed as the leader of the liberal segment of the Court.  Thus, she isn't likely to have an immediate impact on the idealogical balance of the Court unless she proves to be one of the occasional wildcard Supreme Court Justices that come along every so often.  In the long term, her age makes it likely that the seat will remain a liberal seat for many decades.