CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS
– POLITICS
May 26, 2009 – 3:43 p.m.
Fearful of Latino Losses, GOP Cautious with Sotomayor
By Jonathan Allen, CQ Staff
Republicans were spoiling for a party-unifying Supreme Court fight — until they saw their adversary.
Sonia Sotomayor is a 54-year-old Latina whose American dream narrative began in a South Bronx public housing project and has taken her to the doorstep of the high court.
In Sotomayor’s story, Republicans are the only possible villains who might try to block her path to becoming the first Hispanic woman justice in the court’s history.
“I think they’re scared to death,” said Republican strategist Leslie Sanchez. “Many are concerned they would solidify a false image that Republicans are anti-Hispanic.”
Ron Bonjean, a former aide to House and Senate Republican leaders, said GOP officials will have little patience for any commentary that could be regarded as insensitive to Latinos.
“The Republicans are going to approach her with respect and debate her qualifications, and anything outside of that they will consider out of bounds,” he said.
Kid Gloves for Most — But Not All
The party’s uncertainty about how to handle the nomination was evident in the first two bullet points of the Republican National Committee’s talking points. They were:
“President Obama’s nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court is an important decision that will have an impact on the United States long after his administration,” and “Republicans are committed to a fair confirmation process and will reserve judgment until more is known about Judge Sotomayor’s legal views, judicial record and qualifications.”
Sen. John McCain , the party’s 2008 presidential nominee who is up for re-election in Hispanic-influenced Arizona in 2010, issued a two-sentence statement that did not reveal his leanings — even though he voted against Sotomayor becoming an appellate judge in 1998.
“I congratulate Judge Sonia Sotomayor on her nomination by the president to be an associate justice on the United States Supreme Court,” McCain said. “I look forward to examining her record thoroughly during the Senate confirmation process.”
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who is expected to run again for president in 2012, sided with conservative interest groups by swinging hard at Sotomayor.
“The nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court is troubling. Her public statements make it clear she has an expansive view of the role of the judiciary,” Romney said. “Historically, the court is where judges interpret the Constitution and apply the law. It should never be the place ‘where policy is made,’ as Judge Sotomayor has said.”
For Marco Rubio, the Cuban-American underdog in the race for the Florida Republican Party’s 2010 Senate nomination, the nomination offered an opportunity to present himself as a Hispanic with conservative credentials.
Rubio said he is troubled by Sotomayor’s record.
“I hope that a serious examination of her record and beliefs will not be shelved or cast aside simply so Democrats can attempt to claim political credit for a ‘historic’ court nomination.”
Sanchez and other GOP strategists said Sotomayor’s nomination is an opportunity for Republicans to show they can raise serious questions about the nominee’s views and qualifications without angering Latinos.
“It’s perfectly acceptable to have a debate about constitutional interpretation without looking as if we are shrill and anti-Hispanic,” Sanchez said. “I think what people are looking for is that [senators] are balanced and don’t take any shots that are unnecessary.”
Another Republican strategist who asked not to be named said the best advice would be to approach the discussion with both caution and sophistication. The goal for the GOP is to inform and communicate, “but in a way that is not going to alienate what is an absolute core, critical voting bloc that we went from doing well with to doing very poorly with.”
Indeed, Hispanic voters flocked to Obama in the 2008 presidential election, giving him a 67 percent to 31 percent edge, according to Edison Media Research exit polls.
By contrast, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, Sen. John Kery of Massachusetts, won 53 percent of Hispanic votes while President George W. Bush got 44 percent.
Rodolfo O. de la Garza, a professor at Columbia University, says Republican senators have little to lose in going after Sotomayor because their numbers are already so low among Hispanics and they aren’t likely to win anyone over simply by supporting a Hispanic court nominee.
“There’s too many other things on the table. There’s employment, there’s health, there’s education. You want to win Latino votes, come out in favor of those policies,” de la Garza said.
Drawing it Out for Political Gain
Since Justice David H. Souter announced on May 1 that he would retire at the end of the current Supreme Court term, conservative groups have been gearing up for the type of nomination war that has helped fund them — and Republican Party candidates — for years.
This nomination has been viewed as a dress rehearsal for the time when Obama nominates someone to replace a conservative jurist, as the exchange of the liberal Souter for Sotomayor would not shift the philosophical balance of the court as much.
But there is tremendous fundraising potential in an issue — a Supreme Court nomination — that unites Republicans of many different philosophical stripes.
“This is a nuclear weapon for the conservatives out there,” Dan Morgan, a veteran conservative fundraiser who founded Morgan, Meredith and Associates, told CQ Politics when Souter’s retirement was announced. “When you do fundraising, there’s an emotional component in this and boy, the emotion is there magnified times 100.”
That emotion was clear in the reactions of conservative interest groups to the nomination.
“This appointment would provide a pedestal for an avowed judicial activist to impose her personal policy and beliefs onto others from the bench at a time when the courts are at a crossroad and critical abortion regulations — supported by the vast majority of Americans — like partial-birth abortion and informed consent laws lie in the balance,” said Charmaine Yoest, president and CEO of Americans United for Life, a group that opposes abortion. Other conservative groups called Sotomayor a radical judicial activist — words that in battles past have been used to rally core supporters, yet neutral toward Hispanics, just like the strategists recommend.
Comments
The party of "NO" is at it again. Wubbya nominated completely unqualified candidates and right-wing conservatives. What did you think" That Barak Obama would nominated another Clarence Thomas?
This woman shouldn't be allowed to run a bodega, let alone be on the supreme court. The only reason Obummer nominated her was politics- to garner more votes. That's our great president... always campaigning, never governing.
Obama has buffaloed the Republicans again. If the Rs go after Sotomayor aggressively, they will have lost the Hispanic vote for a generation, regardless of the terms they use. If they do not, the Ds win quickly and easily, and still gain cred with the Hispanic sector. Remember, it matters not what left and right talking heads, or fundraisers think or say, there are 100 (counting Franken) senators who fully understand the political implications. No sitting R senator is fulminating.
So it's OK for a knee-jerk rightwing Republican (John Roberts) to replace another knee-jerk rightwing Republican (William Rehnquist) on the Supreme Court but not OK for a liberal to replace another liberal? This isn't about qualifications, this is about the knee-jerk right once again demonstrating they don't want what's best for American, they only want whats best for the knee-jerk right.
It appears you comments and opinions are somewhat slanted. Last time I checked this woman has more experience in the courts at a Federal level than any of the sitting judges. Hm... Guess yu'all don't check your facts much eh? I think regardless of who makes the choice, She is a good pick.
So Jeff Sessions and Mitt Romney have both decided to attack Judge Sotomayor. Let's see, she is probably a Democrat, she is female, she is minority and she is Catholic! What else would you expect from two people, especially Senator Sessions known for their bigotry! Too bad the minority and Catholic voters in Alabama are too low in numbers to elect someone who is not a bigot!!!!
President Obama had the opportunity to appoint A qualified Latina. He took it. No shame on that. But as usual Repubs are gonna find fault because they can't bring real discussion to the table. They truly are the party that is defined by doing the opposite of the Democratic party.
re her "experience in federal courts, those # of years include time spent as an attourney and litigator, not just sitting as a judge. If you only include time as a sitting judge in federal court, she does not have the most "experience". Her record is more important than her years in the system, and that record is questionable at best when it comes to issues of jurisprudence. Not only does she shoot from the hip (read "knee jerk"), but her decisions have been so steeped in emotion rather that interpretation of the law, that many of her decision, even crucial ones, have needed to be overturned by higher courts, sometimes accompanied by harsh rebukes for her flagrant disregard for the law and her responsibilites regarding such laws. Proud American, I don't know a whole lot about Jeff Sessions, but I do know quite a bit about Mitt Romney. I was puzzled at you calling him a bigot. Could you name some instances when he showed himself to be such? I cannot think of one (and please, no references to "bigotry towards dogs"). In fact, he was repeatedly a target of bigotry, both by the media and talking heads on the left, as well as the so called religious right. If anyone in this comment section sound "knee jerk", it's those posting in support of Sotomayers nomination.
Being a Floridian we have a real dogfight brewing between our governor,who has announced his intentions to run for a senate seat vacated by Mel Martinez and a Hispanic former speaker Marco Rubio. Rubio has taken the "staunch" conservative route and his numbers show his approval ratings are 1/5 of that of a more moderate Crist,who is sky high liked by everyone,except the extreme in his own party. Rubio caught some flack for announcing on Spanish speaking network,Univision. Many in Rubios own party criticized his wisdom of announcing in Spanish,on a Spanish only network and were summarily attacked for being racist,now the table has turned and those same persons(extreme fringe Republicans) that shouted racism,well are still shouting racism,but with a different take. This has hurt the Jeb Bush Republicans because Limbaugh has again hurt a pet agenda of Jeb's by not thinking before opening mouth. The mess these guys are in because of the fat mans ego is tremendous.Pull up a chair and bring pop corn and soda.LOL
Well done, Frofreak. The critics of this "judge" (I use the term VERY lightly) are not the ones mentioning her race or gender. ALL, repeat, ALL of the criticism directed at her is exclusively about her record, PERIOD! Her record and especially her statements put her far, far to the left of Souter. This woman is at the very least the mirror image (Likely worse) of the judge that the looney left created out of the lies and distortions told about Robert Bork. I would like to know what law school you went to Barry? To call Roberts and Alito "unqualified" demonstrates to me that you are a complete moron. Do you think it is the job of a judge to make things up out of whole cloth, like Sotomayor? The ONLY thing Bush did right were the judicial appointments, certainly better than his father, as we now know with this latest catastrophe. Thanks alot HW.
Someone explain to me what's wrong with Romney's statement? Or Marco Rubio's? Does Marco Rubio (of Cuban ancestry) hate hispanics? This is all nonsense. All that has to be done is to use her own words against her. You don't even have to distort or take them out of context! Put them out there verbatim. The public doesn't know her record yet. It's up to the GOP to spell it out. If they can't do that or are too "afraid", then there is no need for them---we can become a 1 party politburo.
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