WASHINGTON — President Obama said he is seeking a Supreme Court nominee who understands the "practical day-to-day" implications of rulings, as he pushed back in an interview yesterday against criticism of his emphasis on judicial "empathy."

It is "important this is somebody who has common sense and somebody who has a sense of how American society works and how the American people live," he told C-SPAN in his most extensive public comments yet on his deliberations since Justice David Souter announced his retirement.

"What I want is not just ivory tower learning," he added. "I want somebody who has the intellectual firepower but also a little bit of a common touch and has a practical sense of how the world works."

Republicans have zeroed in on Obama's comments during the presidential campaign that he would "want people on the bench who have enough empathy, enough feeling, for what ordinary people are going through." They have argued that this is code language for judges who would apply an "activist" agenda not necessarily bound by constitutional constraints.

Obama stuck to the same language in the interview while seeking to expand its meaning: He wants a judge who can not only understand the lives of ordinary people, he said, but also grasp the practical consequences of rulings on businesses.

"I said earlier that I thought empathy was an important quality, and I continue to believe that. You have to have not only the intellect to be able to effectively apply the law to cases before you, but you have to be able to stand in somebody's else shoes and see through their eyes and get a sense of how the law might work or not work in practical day-to-day living," he said.

As an example, he cited the Lilly Ledbetter case, in which the court ruled in 2007 that a woman who had suffered pay discrimination, but discovered it after the window for filing suit had passed, could not sue her employer.

"I think anybody who has ever worked in a job like that understands that they might not know that they were being discriminated against," Obama said. "It doesn't make sense for their rights to be foreclosed.

"That's the kind of case where I want a judge not only to be applying the law in front of them but also to understand that as a practical matter."

He also noted the impact on businesses.

"In some ways, it might cut the other way," he said. "I want a judge who has a sense of how regulations might affect the business in a practical way."

POSSIBLE PICKS

The comments could be interpreted any number of ways. One likely candidate, federal appeals court Judge Sonia Sotomayor, was raised by a single mother in a Bronx housing project and could be seen as having a common touch. Another federal appeals court judge on Obama's list, Diane P. Wood, has been praised by business groups for her grasp of business issues, despite her generally liberal profile.

Four other people known to be under consideration by Obama are Solicitor General Elena Kagan, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and California Supreme Court Justice Carlos Moreno.

It remains possible that Obama could nominate someone else who would surprise the legal, political and media communities tracking his deliberations.

Obama hinted that an announcement is imminent, possibly as early as Tuesday, saying he hopes to have confirmation hearings in July.

"One of the things I would prefer not to see happen is that these confirmation hearings drag on, and somebody has to hit the ground running and then take their seat in October without having the time to wrap their mind around the fact that they are going to be a Supreme Court nominee," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.