NYT: "Republicans Weigh Risks of a Supreme Court Battle"

[ClarkUSA]

President Obama’s nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court has put the Republican Party in a bind, as it weighs the cost of aggressively opposing Mr. Obama’s attempt to put the first Hispanic on the high court at a time when the party has struggled with sharp setbacks in its effort to appeal to Hispanic voters... some Republicans warned that the image of Republicans throwing a roadblock before an historic nomination could prove politically devastating.

“If Republicans make a big deal of opposing Sotomayor, we will be hurling ourselves off a cliff,” said Mark McKinnon, a senior adviser to Mr. Bush and a long-time advocate of expanding the party’s appeal. “Death will not be assured. But major injury will be.”... another one-time adviser to Mr. Bush, said that in 2000, he calculated that Republicans needed to win 35 percent of Hispanics to beat Democrats. He said that given the steady increase in the number of Hispanic voters, he now believed Republicans needed to win a minimum of 40 percent to be competitive with Democrats.... barring any revelation about Ms. Sotomayor’s background, Republicans could doom themselves to long-term minority status if they are perceived as preventing Ms. Sotomayor from becoming a judge. He argued that the party could not even be seen as threatening a filibuster.

“Because you’ll have a bunch of white males who lead the Judiciary Committee leading the charge taking on an Hispanic women and everybody from this day forward is going to know she’s totally qualified,” he said. “It’s a bad visual. It’s bad symbolism for the Republicans.”

“Republicans have to tread very lightly,” he said. “They can’t look they are going after her in any kind of personal or mean way. There’s no way they can even threaten a filibuster; I think a threat of that sort would be a problem, even if they didn’t do it.”... Socially conservative Hispanic Christians, a pivotal group that Republicans have tried with mixed success to woo, warned that the party’s effort could be set back if conservatives attacked her.

Checkmate.

[jillan]

1. Obama leaves Rethugs without a move.

(heehee).

[blaze]

2. Checkmate

[DrToast]

3. I wish I could find my post on this...

A while back I said that from a purely political position, Sotomayor is a cant lose for Obama. Either he's repsonsible for the first hispanic Justice, or the Republicans kill the first hispanic nominated for the Court.

It's a great move.

[Cha]

11. I

believe you.

[LakeSamish706]

4. And of course there is also this that will plaque the Repugs...

If confirmed by the Senate, the 54-year-old judge would bring nearly 17 years of experience on the federal bench and a history of bipartisan appeal to the high court. She was first appointed to federal bench in the Southern District of New York in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush and was named to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals by President Bill Clinton in 1998.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104541765

[rvablue]

7. One can only hope that during the hearings, Sotomayor will pepper her answers

with as many references to this as possible.

"Well Senator, when the first President Bush picked me for the federal bench..."

"Well Senator, President Bush certainly thought I was qualified when he first appointed me to the district court...."

And on and on and on.

It would be beautiful!

[Parker CA]

5. This will be fun to watch. It's hard to imagine the GOP figuring out that their best move is to

leave this issue alone. With the comments already made from some GOPiggies, the party fissure looks only to be widening if some on the less radical side of the party have the sanity to sit this one out.

[uponit7771]

6. Unh hunh, come on...... (said in "Cole Train" Gears Of War 2 voice)

....

[rvablue]

8. Well done. You know what's interesting when I was looking at the members of the Judiciary

Committee today?

She's already gone "ten rounds" with many of the Repub members of the Judiciary Committe back in 1997.

Sessions, Kyl, Grassley and Hatch were all members back then, too. So was Specter, but now he's got a D next to his name and hopefully will stick to the party line on this.

Anyway, I was thinking how this also works in favor of the hearing/confirmation process. She's already been grilled by these guys and understands how they operate, etc.

And also, how will Snowe and Collins and Hatch justify not confirming her this time if they felt it was OK to back in '97??



Checkmate, indeed.

[grantcart]

9. expect to see Republicans from Texas, Florida and Arizona all of a sudden

find out how really intelligent she is.


waiting for Cronyn to get the new polling data in 3 2 1

[Cha]

10. And, they would have done this

with any nominee i.e. they would have raged against anyone who Prez Obama chose with vile accusations..and now they have to temper it?..poor idiots.

[sellitman]

12. He may have outsmarted the Repiggies once again.

It isn't the first time and I doubt it will be the last.

The freaks over in Freeperland must be about to explode.

Ha!