Sotomayor: Sure-footed performance
Posted: Friday, July 17, 2009 9:16 AM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under:
Courts
"The two sides of Sonia Sotomayor -- a privately warm, smiling everywoman who likes baseball and eating out, and the serious, well-studied and steely jurist -- both held up under three days of questions from 19 senators," the AP writes. "President Barack Obama's first Supreme Court nominee displayed both traits in charming some senators, disarming others and, most of all, not committing a single gaffe in a sure-footed performance this week before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Even critics conceded her confirmation in the next three weeks is assured."
Video: MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell recaps the confirmation hearings for Judge Sotomayor.
The
Washington Post says “Sotomayor won virtual assurance of rapid confirmation yesterday when Senate Republicans announced that they do not intend to block a vote that would make her the first Hispanic on the nation's highest court, concluding three days of intense questioning.” More: The [Judiciary] committee has scheduled a Tuesday meeting to begin considering the nomination, with a formal vote likely the following week because Republicans expect to ask for extra time to review answers to written follow-up questions they will submit to her today. The committee's vote serves as a recommendation for the rest of the Senate, which is likely to hold its final roll call on Sotomayor by Aug. 7.”
In National Journal, Kirk Victor gets opinions on what would constitute a “win” after the hearings. Says GOP strategist Scott Reed: “If she gets confirmed with 65 votes, that’s a loss for Obama. If he couldn’t pick off half the Republicans, he loses. He came in to change the way Washington works and to be bipartisan.” Yet analyst Larry Sabato says Republicans can’t win here. “That’s why they are very lucky this is happening in the summer and that it is going to be over quickly.”
More from Victor: “Sabato noted that the GOP base won’t be pleased unless the Senate rejects Sotomayor. ‘They are in a permanently disgruntled mood these days,’ he observed. ‘And the Republicans can’t possibly win with the rest of the public, because she is going to become one of these iconic figures. They will be remembered, if they are remembered at all on this, for having opposed her.’”
The headline in Salon: “What if they gave a culture war and no one came?” Subhead: “Frank Ricci, this week's poster boy for oppressed white males everywhere, declines to attack Sonia Sotomayor.”
Video: Firefighter Frank Ricci and others in his company testified at Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation hearing on Thursday, making a compelling case that in trying to help victims of past discrimination, the city of New Haven discriminated against them. The NAACP’s John Payton and MSNBC’s Pat Buchanan discuss.
Dana Milbank has more: “[A]s a Sotomayor slayer, fireman Ricci didn't hold water. The nominee seems headed to confirmation without a fuss -- and, as it turned out, even Ricci didn't seem to have much of a problem with that. The false alarm was exposed by none other than Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.), who, as a Republican 19 years ago, gained notoriety for his hostile questioning of Hill. ‘The question that I have for you: Do you have any reason to think that Judge Sotomayor acted in anything other than good faith in trying to reach a fair decision in the case?’ he asked.”
“It was Ricci's chance to stoke the fire, but he smothered it instead. ‘That's beyond my legal expertise,’ he demurred. ‘I simply welcome an invitation by the United States Senate to come here today.’”
