by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright May 28, 2009
All Rights Reserved.

        Tapping 54-year-old Latina federal appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor to replace Associate Supreme Court Justice David Souter, President Barack Obama showed his political savvy, hogtying Republicans who dare to oppose the nomination. In the Nov. 4 election, Obama captured 67% of the Latino vote with former GOP candidate Sen. John McCaian (R-Ariz.) getting only 31%.  GOP opposition to Sotomayor’s nomination faces a stiff backlash in next year’s midterm elections.  Barack went for a proven commodity, already exposed to the rigors of Senate confirmation during her Judiciary Committee vetting in 1997.   Picked originally for the federal bench by former President George H.W. Bush in 1991, former President Bill Clinton tapped her for the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Fort Worth, Texas.  Sotomayor’s faced resistance in1998, realizing she might wind up on the High Court.

            Raised in the North Bronx by her widowed mother only minutes from Yankee Stadium, Sotomayor, who grew up in a housing project, graduated in 1972 valedictorian of parochial Cardinal Spellman High, launching her to the Ivy League at Princeton University, where she finished Phi Beta Kappa, Summa Cum Laude.  She sailed to Yale Law School where she became editor of the prestigious Law Review Journal.  After graduating Yale Law, she worked under New York County District Attorney Robert Morganthau for five years, prosecuting robberies, assaults and police brutality.  Sotomayor left the DA in 1984 for private practices, working in corporate law for Pavia and Harcourt in New York City.  Three years later, she began her career in public service, appointed by former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo to the board of the N.Y. State Mortgage Agency.

            Sotomayor’s story, like the man who appointed her, personifies the American Dream.  Republicans, inside or outside the beltway, ranted about her appointment, finding little traction for their complaints.  Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich called Sotomayor a “reverse racist” for remarks in a 2001 speech, sharing hopes that a “wise Latina woman with the richness of her experience would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.”  Limbaugh latched onto the sound-bite as proof of her liberal arrogance and judicial activism, two qualities he finds offensive—unless it’s a GOP judge.  “I thinks it’s terrible,” added Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas).  “This is not the kind of tone that any of us want to see when it comes to performing our constitutional responsibilities of advice and consent,” objecting to Limbaugh and Gingrich.

            Sotomayor, as Rush and Newt know, was making a facetious point that her personal experience relates more to struggling Americans.  Far too much emphasis has been placed in Sotomayor’s Puerto Rican roots.  She was born and raised in the Bronx, not San Juan.  Ranting about old sound-bites doesn’t emphasize her extraordinary background both academically and personally.  Her resume reads like the great American novel, fulfilling a promise attracting millions from foreign soil to come to the Promised Land.  Her professional background offers the broadest possible cross section of experience needed to make an outstanding Supreme Court Justice.  Republican opposition looks mean-spirited, driving more voters from the GOP.  When you consider that Sotomayor does little to change the complexion of the Court, it’s hard to fathom all the wasted criticism.

            Republicans have to pick their battles wisely.  Opposing Sotomayor causes more exhaust for the GOP, doing little to advance the Party before next year’s midterm elections.  Newt and Rush know that Sotomayor does nothing to change the Court's ideological divide, currently pitting five conservatives against four liberals.  Replacing liberal-leaning David Souter with Sotomayor doesn’t advance judicial activism or change the High Court’s conservative ways.  Republicans should save their powder when and if Obama gets the chance to replace a conservative jurist.  When she meets next fall with the Senate Judiciary Committee, she’ll face a lot less opposition than the today’s inconsequential grandstanding.  GOP insiders know that Sotomayor doesn’t change the ideological complexion of the Court.  Fighting her nomination only has a downside on next year’s midterm elections.

            Republican opposition to Sotomayor helps Rush or Newt grab some headlines but does very little for the Republican Party.  Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele continued his feud with Rush, telling the conservative host, in effect, to stop ragging on Sotomayor.  She possesses all the right stuff to make an outstanding Supreme Court Justice.  Obama’s pick shows keen political instincts, breaking yet another glass ceiling.  Whatever Sotomayor’s past remarks, she knows she must show her impartiality and respect for the Constitution.  Those questioning her pro-choice leanings shouldn’t forget for a second she’s fiercely independent and won’t sacrifice her autonomy to conservatives.  “Politically she a beautiful doll containing a canister of poison gas:  Break it and you die,” said Wall Street Journal columnist and former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan.

 About the Author

 John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.