It’s Sotomayor. GOP To Oppose First Hispanic SCOTUS Justice?
Just to get you started on Sonia Sotomayor, Obama’s announced pick for the Supreme Court, here’s a useful video summary of her life.
First question: How do Republicans oppose the first potential Hispanic Supreme Court justice, given their much-vaunted outreach to Latinos in 2006 and 2008, the losses the GOP has suffered with this group given the party’s immigration stands, and the party’s desperate need to expand racially and demographically among such groups? The optics of GOP opposition here likely would look awful.
Obama is expected to announce Sotomayer at 10:15 AM today. More soon.
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I was hoping it was her and I think this is going to be way fun.
Wave goodbye to the Hispanic vote forever, GOP. You’ll never see it again.
There’s the Republican Party and there is the Re-Publican Party of Limbaugh and Cheney. I do not expect a single minded Repug focus on Judge Sotomayor because the Collins – Boxer alliance will be in the fight. I look for three segments: those who dish out garbage, those who will come up with pseudo-legal arguments and those who will side with the Dems.
I hope with all my being that the Repugs get completely obnoxious about this. I live in 2 Hispanic majority states. Since Texas is my legal residence, I’m really hoping for all Texans’ sake, that the Hispanic vote is pissed off beyond measure at the GOP forever.
It would rock my world. My other Hispanic majority resident state, New Mexico, already votes Democratic, mostly.
Here is a better question, how loudly will the sane moderate wing of the Republican party push back against the anti immigrant/racist wingnut wing of the GOP? See its great that Collins and Snowe and possibly other Congressional Republicans have the good common sense to know that pushing back to hard on Sotomayor will hurt their electoral chances. However if they only carry this belief in their heart and aren’t going to go out and voice it then the hardliners will end up being the face of the GOP. This is pretty much going to be a microcosm of the problems the GOP is facing going forward. Much of their radical base will not stand for them refusing to filibuster Sotomayor. People like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Glenn Beck will invariably say demeaning things about her. But if Collins or Snowe come out against them they will face the wrath of the base. So does the establishment GOP try to push back against the vitriol from Rusbo et al and risk the blowback or do they stay quiet and allow them to turn Hispanics off from all Republicans? Its almost a no win situation for them but if I were advising them, and I am not, I would say to nip at her ankles then confirm her with lots of Republican support. The base will eventually get over it, a whole race of people will not. But I have a feeling that the GOP will make the wrong choice yet again.
Conason has a great line…
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“How do you say ‘bring it’ in Spanish?”
The GOP and friends will obviously push “activist” and “radical leftist” while continuing in the mode of Rosen, attempting to impeach the quality of her character. They will, for the most part, avoid explicit references to her ethnicity and gender but those aspects will be played out through suggestion – she’ll be “shrewish” and “out of the mainstream” and, of course, “empathetic” (that unmanly failing). Another way her gender and ethnicity will be covertly highlighted will be through claims/suggestions that Obama chose her for those reasons.
O Bernie – I love that.
The trolls have massed huge attacks on HuffPo over this. It’s a major Obama score – he just knocked all their pawns off the board.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Ana Marie Cox tweeted this a while ago and I think it very much bears repeating.
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Shorter meaning of Sotomayor pick: F— you, New Republic
Nate Silver has the yeas and nays on her last confirmation hearing… http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/05/current-senators-voted-35-11-to-confirm.html
Sotomayor is not the first Hispanic Nominee. The first hispanic Justice was Benjamin Cardozo. And George Bush nominate Alberto Gonzalez to be Supreme Court judge. So get over it….. Sotomayor is a Racist !!!
Love this post! Thanks for this. I