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Senate Republicans Won't Fight Sotomayor Nomination

Posted by Chris Bowers, Open Left at 10:02 AM on May 28, 2009.


It looks like the Sotomayor nomination fight is over before it began.

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It looks like the Sotomayor nomination fight is over before it began:

Top Senate Republican strategists tell POLITICO that, barring unknown facts about Judge Sonia Sotomayor, the GOP plans no scorched-earth opposition to her confirmation as a Supreme Court justice.

More than 24 hours after the White House unveiling, no senator has come out in opposition to Sotomayor's confirmation.

"The sentiment is overwhelming that the Senate should do due diligence but should not make a mountain out of a molehill," said a top Senate Republican aide. "If there's no 'there' there, we shouldn't try to create one."

Barring something currently unforeseen, this one is over.

Even so, the process of the appearance of a fight still holds a lot of potential benefits for Democrats and progressives. First, a weak opposition to Sotomayor by Senate Republicans could open a real "rootsgap" between Republican Senate leaders and an activist base that has long rabidly focused on the judiciary. Second, Democrats can continue to concern troll the racially charged conservative media attacks on Sotomayor, which threaten both to drive a further wedge between Latinos and Republicans, and also to further the process story of "Republicans in series electoral trouble."

Confirming Sotomayor will be a substantive victory for Democrats (at least compared to the sort of nominee a Republican would have picked, if not over Souter's rulings). Right now, however, with that victory all but guaranteed, we need to keep hammering on the process of the fight, because it can do real long-term damage to the conservative movement and the Republican Party.

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Tagged as: senate, obama, supreme court, sotomayor

Chris Bowers was a full-time editor at MyDD from May 2004 until June 2007. Some of his projects have included the creation of the Liberal Blog Advertising Network, the first scientifically random poll of progressive netroots activists, the Use It Or Lose It campaign, the nation's most accurate forecast of Democratic house pickups in 2006, and the 2006 Googlebomb the Elections campaign.


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The Republicans might like what they see
Posted by: Gaubladt on May 28, 2009 10:32 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It could be that the reason the R's are caving in is that they believe that a Justice Sotomeyor would be anti-choice. If that's the case, women in need could be headed for stormy times.
It might force a campaign for a free-choice amendment to the constitution.

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Careful what you wish for
Posted by: Hans B on May 28, 2009 2:24 PM   
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"... we need to keep hammering on the process of the fight, because it can do real long-term damage to the conservative movement and the Republican Party."

As an outsider to this whole business, I think that's a dangerous path. Like it or not, in any democracy the second-largest party retains considerable influence, and sooner or later returns to power. You don't want that to happen after a thorough Cheney-ization of the GOP. What's more, the absence of a credible alternative on the right also means the Democrats don't have to listen to the left (as we see happening in the Obama administration).

The GOP shouldn't be driven into an extreme-right corner, just because that "harms" them. On the contrary, it should be weaned back to the center, so that it will be less dangerous, and so that the Dems will need progressive votes again.

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The ultra right...
Posted by: Bbear41 on May 29, 2009 3:54 PM   
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...Is (of course) having fits. Automatic response - they have fits about what kind of mustard the President chooses for his hamburgers . Judge Sotomeyor will replace a liberal justice, so that the balance of the court will not change significantly. Obama is not going to name a judge more conservative that Sotomeyor, so there is no valid reason for the Repubs to make a fuss, not this time.

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My objection
Posted by: ajmartin on May 30, 2009 3:29 PM   
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Although I like Judge S very much from what I read, I question putting a 54 yr old with type 1 diabetes on the court. Lets find a younger and healthier candidate. Someone who will be on the court for 30 years, not 10.

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