When a vacancy opens on the Supreme Court, President Donald Vanderdamp faces one of the greatest challenges for U.S. presidents: choosing a nominee to rule on the most important constitutional questions of the day (preferably in line with the current administration's beliefs) for perhaps decades to come. There's also the small task of trying to guide the nominee through the hell that is the Senate confirmation hearings. Vanderdamp dutifully selects the most inoffensive nominee he can find.

Unfortunately for Vanderdamp, his biggest adversary -- Senator Dexter Mitchell -- is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Mitchell, who wants the seat for himself, prevents the president's nominees from ever passing through the committee hearing to a full Senate vote. After his second candidate fails, Vanderdamp is furious.

For most presidents -- especially one as unpopular as Vanderdamp -- a stalemate would ensue. But Vanderdamp is not like most presidents -- he doesn't care about his reelection, in fact, he'd prefer not to be reelected. So he has nothing to lose when he decides to infuriate Mitchell by nominating Pepper Cartwright, the number one TV judge and sassy Texan, for the job.

I wanted to like this book, and after the first few pages it seemed promising. Unfortunately, Buckley's story quickly devolves from a smart satire to chick lit -- and not even good chick lit.

The author juggles the multiple storylines of Pepper, Vanderdamp, Mitchell, and various other characters so much that none of them are well-developed. There's romance on the Court (which is thrown together), a television show starring Mitchell (which makes little sense), a presidential election (which goes from the candidates announcing their bids to election night in about fifty pages), etc. It makes for a quick read, yet leaves you wondering whether you simply read the outline of a novel. The characters themselves are paper-thin; an outspoken Texan, a self-obsessed Senator, and a vengeful ex hardly seem original (although I do love Justice Crispus).

The major plotlines also require a suspension of belief that Buckley doesn't justify. For example (just one of many), the only ones perturbed by Pepper's nomination are those in government. The people wholly embrace her (c'mon, no matter how popular she is, the public would still question the president's sanity).

Buckley does excel in mocking Washington-speak and a few of his jabs ring true (for example, a nominee being rejected because of a movie review he wrote in grade school). Yet it's not enough to save his flimsy plot. If you're looking for a funny, light-hearted, political novel, try Sammy's Hill by Kristen Gore.

While I really enjoyed Thank You for Smoking: A Novel and Little Green Men: A Novel, Supreme Courtship (which I read in galleys) just missed on all counts. The characters were flat cliches, the plot seemed almost an afterthought, and even the snarky footnotes were halfhearted. The only thing that was vaguely amusing was the Scalia stand-in, but there Buckley seemed to give us the man and not a parody. Go read The Bretheren or The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court instead -- reality is a much better than fiction in this case.

While I really enjoyed Thank You for Smoking: A Novel and Little Green Men: A Novel, Supreme Courtship (which I read in galleys) just missed on all counts. The characters were flat cliches, the plot seemed almost an afterthought, and even the snarky footnotes were halfhearted. The only thing that was vaguely amusing was the Scalia stand-in, but there Buckley seemed to give us the man and not a parody. Go read The Bretheren or The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court instead -- reality is a much better than fiction in this case.