GOP Moves to Tone Down Criticism of Sotomayor: Strategist warns is 'suicidal' for the Party

[seafan]

GOP Moves to Tone Down Criticism of Sotomayor

By Dan Eggen, Shailagh Murray and Paul Kane
May 29, 2009

Republican leaders on Capitol Hill are rushing to contain racially tinged rhetoric in the debate over President Obama's Supreme Court nominee, fearing that attacks emanating from some conservatives opposed to appellate court Judge Sonia Sotomayor could damage GOP prospects among women and the rapidly growing Hispanic population.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said today he was "uneasy" over allegations by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and talk-show host Rush Limbaugh that Sotomayor is racist. Sessions, who lost a 1986 bid for a federal judgeship amid concerns over his own racial sensitivity, said Republicans should focus on Sotomayor's legal record to try to divine what sort of a Supreme Court justice she would make.
"I'm uneasy," Sessions said in a 30-minute interview in his office in the Russell Senate Office Building. "I don't think that's good rhetoric. The question is, has the judge gone too far or not, given the established law of the land?"

.....

Gingrich wrote to followers on his Twitter account: "White man racist nominee would be forced to withdraw. Latina woman racist should also withdraw."
Limbaugh today compared Sotomayor to Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke and has labeled her "a reverse racist" because of a ruling against a group of white firefighters who sued New Haven, Conn., for alleged discrimination.

Former Bush administration adviser Karl Rove has questioned the intellect of Sotomayor, a graduate of Princeton University and Yale Law School, while Curt Levey of the conservative Committee for Justice argued she was "picked because she's a woman and Hispanic, not because she was the best qualified."
Former GOP congressman Tom Tancredo (Colo.) also took Sotomayor to task for membership in the National Council of La Raza, labeling the nation's largest Hispanic advocacy group as "a Latino KKK without the hoods or nooses."

.....

The tone of the attacks has alarmed many within the GOP establishment, who say the party must remain civil in its criticism of Sotomayor and should focus on legal issues, rather than personal attacks or racial accusations. One prominent Hispanic GOP strategist, who asked not to be identified discussing the topic, said the blistering attacks on Sotomayor were "suicidal" for the party, especially as it attempts to counter the broad support for Obama among Hispanics.

.....

The death throes of the GOP are inflicting catastrophic damage to our nation.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

1. These guys are like the obnoxious drunk RW relative at a BBQ, picking fights.

[tanyev]

2. We see their true colors, shining through.....

[seafan]

3. Watch for the Sunday morning damage control. It's too late, you bastards.

.....

"What's this going to look like on Telemundo? What's it going to look like on Univision?" asked this strategist, referring to the nation's two largest Spanish-language networks. "If we want to compete as a national party in the near future, we cannot be seen taking these kind of cheap shots. We simply cannot actively work to alienate the fastest-growing bloc in the electorate."

John Ullyot, a GOP strategist who worked on judicial nominations as a Capitol Hill staffer, said that "any comments politically on race or gender are fraught with peril for Republicans."

"A few conservatives from outside of the Senate, in their zeal to pick a fight over Obama's nominee, decided to get very ugly very quickly," he said.

.....

[Ocracoker16]

4. They have been employing some pretty self destructive tactics

They have already shrunk to a small group. If they keep being asses, then they will end up close to extinct.

[seafan]

5. G. Gordon Liddy: ‘Let’s Hope That The Key Conferences Aren’t When She’s Menstruating’

From Think Progress today:

Yesterday on his radio show, conservative host G. Gordon Liddy continued the right wing’s all-out assault on Judge Sonia Sotomayor. First, just like Tom Tancredo, Liddy slammed Sotomayor’s affiliation with the civil rights group La Raza — and referred to the Spanish language as “illegal alien“:

LIDDY: I understand that they found out today that Miss Sotomayor is a member of La Raza, which means in illegal alien, “the race.” And that should not surprise anyone because she’s already on record with a number of racist comments.

Finished with the race-based attack, Liddy moved on to denigrate Sotomayor’s gender:

LIDDY: Let’s hope that the key conferences aren’t when she’s menstruating or something, or just before she’s going to menstruate. That would really be bad. Lord knows what we would get then.

Finally, Liddy disputed the entire idea that there’s anything wrong with the paucity of women and total lack of Hispanics on the Court:

LIDDY: And everybody is cheering because Hispanics and females have been, quote, underrepresented, unquote. And as you pointed out, which I thought was quite insightful, the Supreme Court is not designed to be and should not be a representative body.

It's time to drain this GOP cesspool.

[Chemisse]

6. Ancient sexism

"Let’s hope that the key conferences aren’t when she’s menstruating or something." Liddy

OMG, I haven't heard that crap since I was a young girl in the 1960s, when my junior high class was told by a male teacher that a woman could never be president because of the emotional upheavals from the monthly menstrual cycle.

[tanyev]

10. Sadly, it's too late to hope that any photos of Liddy aren't when he's in a speedo.

[sarge43]

7. Shhhhh, everyone.

They're alienating two of the largest and most important voting blocks in this country.

You know what not to do when your opponent is shooting himself in both feet after he jams them in his mouth.

Let's just make some popcorn and watch the fun.

[Chemisse]

8. No, don't stop. I have popcorn and a front row seat.

[depakid]

9. They won't be able to help themselves

it cuts too far against the grain of who and what they are at heart.

[BlooInBloo]

11. With a base of bigots? Good luck with that.