Sonia Sotomayor, joined by her brother, Juan Luis Sotomayor, and her mother Celina Sotomayor, completes the oath administered by Chief Justice John Roberts to become the Supreme Court's first Hispanic justice in the court's 220-year history, in Washington, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2009.
(J. Scott Applewhite/AP)Photos (1 of 1)
Sotomayor is sworn in, but the politics are far from over
It’s a dilemma for the GOP, particularly among Hispanic voters. But Democrats could feel a backlash if she’s perceived as too liberal.
By Brad Knickerbocker | Staff writer/ August 8, 2009 edition
The swearing in of Sonia Sotomayor as the nation’s first Hispanic and third woman to sit on the Supreme Court of the United States was decidedly nonpolitical. President Obama had decided not to attend, and the ceremony was at the high court itself — not in the White House, as had been the practice for decades.
The picture of solemnity and celebration as Chief Justice John Roberts administered the judicial oath before TV cameras — another first — was in sharp contrast to the highly-partisan and sometimes rancorous confirmation run-up to Saturday morning’s historic event.
But are the politics of Associate Justice Sotomayor’s appointment now over? Far from it.
In the Senate confirmation vote, all but a handful of Republicans voted against her, and many see this as trouble for a party increasingly rejected by Hispanic voters. And it’s not just Democrats making this point.
Conservative MSNBC host Joe Scarborough (a former Republican congressman) said this about the GOP’s action on Sotomayor: “What’s wrong with them? … It’s about as short-sighted and stupid as any political move this year.”
The first test could come in the midterm elections next year.
Writing in NationalJournal.com, Steven Shepherd points out that “of the GOP senators standing for re-election next year, all 12 voted against Sotomayor.” That includes Robert Bennett of Utah and John McCain of Arizona who are facing primary challenges.
In states with relatively high percentages of Hispanic voters — Arizona (16 percent), Florida (14 percent), Nevada (15 percent), and Texas (20 percent) — only one Republican senator voted for Sotomayor. That’s Mel Martínez of Florida, who’s just announced his early retirement.
In a New York Times blog post, Andrew Kohut, president of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, says the sizable GOP vote against Sotomayor (plus the harangues of unofficial party leaders like Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich) are “more than enough to remind [Hispanics] of why they don’t vote Republican very often these days.”
At the University of Minnesota’s “Smart Politics” blog, Eric Ostermeier points out that the potentially most-vulnerable GOP senators — those with the lowest margin of victory in the party caucus — all voted against Sotomayor.
It’s a dilemma for the GOP, Mr. Kohut points out, particularly since polls showed that a plurality of Republicans (and a majority of conservative Republicans) opposed the Sotomayor nomination.
“The vote represents the dilemma the GOP faces coming out of its 2008 and 2006 election defeats: how to keep its base happy, on the one hand, and broaden its appeal to women, Latinos, and young people, on the other,” Kohut writes.
All may not be grim for Republicans as Sotomayor gets fitted for her new judicial robes and crams for her first deliberations on the high court.
Writing on FoxNews.com, Ken Klukowski of the conservative American Civil Rights Union argues that the 68 - 31 confirmation vote is “a mixed result at best, and if her rulings from the bench show a clear liberal philosophy then the end result will be negative for the White House and Democrats.”
“The president and his party, and especially Senate Democrats from red states, will now have to answer for Sotomayor if she proves true to expectations as a solidly-liberal justice,” Mr. Klukowski writes.
It’s too soon to know if that proves true, of course.
But using statistical analysis, researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, predict that “Justice Sonia Sotomayor will cast a liberal vote in roughly 67 percent of cases during her first term on the Supreme Court, which will make her the most liberal member of the current court.”
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Comments
2. Tom | 08.08.09
Why oh why does it never occur to writers of articles like this that being perceived as liberal may not actually be a bad thing? Or that being perceived as too conservative may be a bad thing?
Didn’t any of you folks notice the last election? You think that outcome means the country is afraid of liberals or of trying a liberal approach to governance and the law?
If she’s liberal then good for her.
4. eastsider | 08.08.09
I was born and raised Republican. In the mid 70’s the soul of the Republican Party was lost to those social conservatives who seem more inclined to judge and punish than solve problems.
Since then I have politically independent.
I wouldn’t say I’d never vote for a Republican again, but I see no candidates or Potential candidates that have the common sense of a gnat.
5. Ralph | 08.08.09
It’s funny, but I don’t seem to remember any concerns about backlash against possible conservative votes by Chief Justice Roberts or Justice Alito. Why the asymmetry?
6. Gary | 08.08.09
The problem is that the Republican base will not be happy including any other group because they simply do not like or trust them. That means that the base is the only “group” that the GOP appeals to.
It seems to me that the Democrats want to govern the U.S. but the GOP wants to rule it
7. Henry | 08.08.09
Her record speaks for its self. All the members of the Senate agreed that her record is mainstream. Her record shows that she does not mix politics in with her career. As for the statistical analysis, why even have a court? When your statistical analysis will tell us how they will rule. Come on, get real.
8. Jason | 08.08.09
Why do Republicans “have” to vote for her just because they have large numbers of hispanics in their district. If they voted for her for that reason, then they would be voting purely on the fact that she is hispanic. I personally applaud the Republicans for standing up for what they believe in and not giving into the pressure of the media.
9. Fact | 08.08.09
The notion that there will be a backlash if Justice Sotomayor has a liberal record on the Supreme Court is absurd. Sotomayor is not political; she is a neutral and impartial judge. Even if she upholds long-standing precedent that one could characterize as “liberal,” that is neither a negative for her nor surprising. One would not expect a Democratic President with a clear mandate and a Democratic Congress to appoint a conservative justice. It would probably a bigger concern if Sotomayor is not liberal enough. Either way, she will not have any record on the court for close to a year from now, and, given the number of people who follow Supreme Court decisions, I suspect whatever her record turns out to be will have minimal political implications.
10. Kurt | 08.08.09
Why don’t Scalia, Alito, Roberts and Thomas have to answer for being “too conservative”? There are five conservative justices on the Supreme Court, four who are “too conservative.” They deserve the superlatives.
11. Alice=Alex | 08.08.09
its sad to hear that people think that Sotomayor will make desisions based on her personal opinon. Its easy to say that a Supreme Court Judge doesn’t always have that option and makes their desision based on their understanding of the LAW!! just in case all of you have forgotten when you read this
12. Mary Wexler | 08.08.09
Have you noted the complaints about Justices Scalia, Thomas, and Roberts? They certainly are very far to the right. I gather that is fine! Their interests and biases are usually up front.
13. sfrose | 08.08.09
The statistical study is meaningless. All they conclude, after considering smoke and mirrors, is that a non-right wing judge will vote non-right wing and that an appointment of someone who is appointed to replace the most liberal sitting justice will be comparatively more liberal than not. Their gaping statistical omission is the complete failure to look at Sotomayor’s record on the bench that is more extensive than all the other justice’s records at the time of their confirmations combined. It is FOX propaganda to keep the base focused on the shiny glittering premise FOX continuous dangles to keep its base entranced. Are the politics far from over? As long as FOX continues to report it’s conclusions as news the answer is a hollow yes.
14. sofie | 08.08.09
It is OK to be a liberal. Let me repeat that: it is OK to be a liberal.
A generation ago, the word “conservative” was as trashed as the word “liberal.” In fact, liberal and conservative philosophies are both mainstream in America. What is not mainstream are the radicals who have taken over the airwaves and ether today.
I hope Sonia Sotomayor does not shrink from her principles, and the public returns to the light of day unafraid to declare liberal principles to be the enlightened ones that founded our republic.
16. Michelle | 08.08.09
Great, HTML doesn’t work in your comments section.
Please show me where there are Democratic Senators from Red States.
17. Salamander | 08.08.09
Finally we can rest. With Thomas, Scalia, Alito on the court, its scary what would have happened with another conservative.
18. christian coker | 08.09.09
wow, she has not even begun her term yet and “researchers” have begun to label her. Why don’t we just give her a chance to prove her worth. Does everything have to be racial in America? She just happen to be Hispanic but that does not necessarily mean she’s going to make blind liberal rulings. Its about time this nation learns to trust its own people no matter what demographic they are from.
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1. Robert Dettloff | 08.08.09
It amazes me that there is such a bias against Justice Sotomayor by the Conservatives. Everything they have derided Justice Sotomayor for applies equally to Justice Scalia. The Conservative right has its majority of “conservatives” including Justice Scalia who is as far right in his leanings and votes as a Justice as they accuse Justice Sotomayor of being “liberal left”. But then, he is a “conservative darling” and that doesn’t count. It’s just those “liberals” whose agenda is no good.