May 26, 2009 1:28 PM

Obama Pick Leaves GOP In Difficult Spot

By
Steve Chaggaris
Topics
Sonia Sotomayor
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
It's day one of a weeks-long nomination process for Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama's selection for the Supreme Court, and given today's political climate, the initial analysis of his choice is turning out to be quite positive. Because of this climate, the president clearly feels he has the political capital to get Sotomayor, someone that conservatives feel was the most liberal on his short list, onto the Court.

With his choice, the president pleased his base and Hispanic groups. Are there risks? Of course. But the risk-reward ratio weighs heavily in the president's favor. Barring any major issues that have yet to be uncovered about Judge Sotomayor, even many Republicans are resigned to the fact that she'll most likely wind up being confirmed.

The Republicans, however, will do their best to not make it a cakewalk.

And this is where Mr. Obama's choice of Sotomayor gets interesting. He's put the onus on the Republicans to figure out how to react.

Normally, the opposition - Republican or Democrat, depending on the president - would come out guns ablaze after the nominee, doing their darndest to tar him or her from the moment of the announcement through the confirmation process. And, normally, this tactic works in the opposition's favor; if they can't derail the nominee, at least they can use the partisan fight as an opportunity to raise money from their base.

This year is much different, and the nomination of Sotomayor "does create a difficult situation politically for the Republicans," said one Democratic strategist, who asked for anonymity because of their relationship with the White House.

Why is it different? Because Sotomayor is Hispanic and she's a woman.

Fully aware of the precarious political position the Republican Party finds itself in after losing badly in 2008, especially among Hispanic and female voters, Senate Republican leaders have urged their ranks to hold their fire, specifically asking them in talking points distributed last week and obtained by CBS News not to "pre-judge" or "pre-confirm" the president's pick.

The tightrope the Republicans have to walk on over the coming weeks: how to counter this historic nomination without alienating two important voting blocs, women and Latinos?

This, according to the Democratic strategist, is "an additional benefit" of the president's choice, making sure to point out that choosing a Supreme Court justice is a "special case" and politics was not part of the decision-making process.

A perfect example of someone caught between two competing interests: Sen. John Cornyn, R-Tex., who's balancing two roles as a Judiciary Committee member and the Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

He and the rest of the Republicans on the Judiciary Committee will be under immense pressure to join the blowtorching from conservative groups that will be doing their best to criticize Sotomayor.

However, as chairman of the NRSC, he knows more than anyone that any negative reaction to Republicans' handling of this historic nomination could have negative repercussions in the 2010 midterm elections.

"Therefore, it is imperative that my colleagues and members of the media do not pre-judge or pre-confirm Ms. Sotomayor," Cornyn said in a statement today, modeled after the talking points distributed by the Senate Republican Conference. "It is my hope that the process will allow her to prove herself to possess the impartiality, integrity, legal expertise and judicial temperament that we have come to expect from those that sit on our highest court. She must prove her commitment to impartially deciding cases based on the law, rather than based on her own personal politics, feelings, and preferences."

"We maintain and build credibility by approaching this with an open mind," one Republican strategist told CBS News. "Republicans are trying to take the responsible approach."

Ultimately, "It's going to be very hard for any senator, Republican or Democrat, to vote against her," Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y said today.

But for those Republicans that do vote against her, that "responsible approach" may be their only strategy to avoid negative ripple effects from bucking the current pro-Obama political climate.
Steve Chaggaris is CBS News' Political Director.

Sonia Sotomayor: More Coverage And Analysis





Add a Comment See all 206 Comments
by BeckieBest May 26, 2009 11:44 PM EDT
It's going to be fun watching the Rushpublicans try to smear her to their own detriment.
Reply to this comment
by nearl451 May 26, 2009 11:31 PM EDT
It IS going to be entertaining to see the tack that Repubs use.

I almost wish that Arlen would switch back over for the questioning. It was very amusing to watch Arlen and Orrin tag team on sexual innuendo (an awkward topic for these two) against Anita Hill.

There will be some funny one liners, you can bet on it.
Reply to this comment
by burneb May 26, 2009 11:30 PM EDT
Scalia seems to practice his own brand of personal ideology and whims, which conservatives call judicial activism whenever liberals do it.

However Scalia's legal and scholarly credentials are cited as a redeeming excuse. Will conservatives accept the same for Sotomayer?
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by DefendLiberty May 26, 2009 10:38 PM EDT
It's going to be fun watching the obsolete GOP run around shooting randomly at each other. Hey (GOP) guys, keep claiming that this is an "affirmative action pick". Keep claiming that only far right judges are acceptable. PLEASE keep up the neocon/ evangelical/ far-right game plan. Your base will love you.
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by forrestlayne May 26, 2009 9:57 PM EDT
All this shows is how out of touch the US Supreme Court has gotten to be. It's people like her who are making rulings the majority of people support. It's only the minority of fruitcakes like yourself who are supporting the decisions of the Court nowadays.
Posted by tmittelstaed at 2:36 PM : May 26, 2009

The US is supposed to be republic Not a democracy. The constitution and bill of rights were set up so the majority could not trample the rights of the few. That's exactly the fight in Calf. right now. The majority said no to gay marriage, now the gay marriage supporters want the conservative court to protect their individual rights over majority rule.

Sorry - can't have it both ways
Reply to this comment
by bluegrass101-2009 May 26, 2009 9:56 PM EDT
The Party of Repukes Wrapped the American Flag around themselves and proclaimed themselves to be the True Patriots. Then they snookered the Evangelicals into believing they were the True Believers and made sure they were Photo-Op 'ed sitting in the Front Row at a church in DC. Condi, Rumsfeld, Rove, Cheney, Bush sitting in the front row their with their hands folded, as they contemplated the Neo-Cons plan for the invasion of Iraq, pushed by the American Enterprise Institute. The Failed Plan became the Destruction of the American Economy and the Constitution became a Roll of Toilet Paper for Wolfowitz, Frum, Kristol,John Yoo, Kagan,Gerson, Bybee,George Will and the Heritage Foundation.
Reply to this comment
by dfnj2009 May 26, 2009 9:41 PM EDT
The party of southern white men is not going to accept a latino woman as being equal!
Reply to this comment
by democracy1 May 26, 2009 8:42 PM EDT
Posted by alphaa10000 at 5:03 PM : May 26, 2009

Excellent post! On a number of different levels. I doubt any of the "Party of No" can substantially debate your post on any level.
Reply to this comment
by omega39-2009 May 26, 2009 8:23 PM EDT
Now only if we could formulate some inane response with which to reply and all use it during the course of a week. You know, something akin to 'I'll swoon'.


Posted by _LawyersGuns-n-Money

I suspect she means "I'll swan" which Oxford lists as an old dialect for I'll swear.
Reply to this comment
by gravyboat45 May 26, 2009 8:06 PM EDT
Hey, Jim, LGM, Gravy!

I'm just amazed she branched out with her paranoia. I was starting to think I was everyone...

I remember her even accusing Masses of being me for about a week.
Posted by slownewday_05

Right now it's you, me and hungry.

Idn't she fun? lol
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