It was only a week ago President Donald Trump appeared practically “giddy” about a particular candidate to fill the newly vacant seat on the Supreme Court that had been held by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg for more than 27 years, people familiar with the matter said.
The potential pick was not the woman Trump nominated on Saturday night, though by the end of the week he was enthusiastically telling friends his choice of Amy Coney Barrett had the potential to salvage his political career.
Instead, his imagination seemed temporarily stoked by Barbara Lagoa, the Florida-born judge who sits on the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals. In a phone call to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in the hours after Ginsburg’s death was announced, Lagoa was one of a few names Trump floated as his potential pick, according to people…