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The RNC made a tiny mistake today. Probably with their excitement to attack Pres. Obama and his Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor. They mistakenly released the talking points against Sotomayor which the press was able to obtain. Here’s some of the talking points, via The Hill,
o Until we have a full view of the facts and comprehensive understanding of Judge Sotomayor’s record, Republicans will avoid partisanship and knee-jerk judgments – which is in stark contrast to how the Democrats responded to the Judge Roberts and Alito nominations.
o To be clear, Republicans do not view this nomination without concern. Judge Sotomayor has received praise and high ratings from liberal special interest groups. Judge Sotomayor has also said that policy is made on the U.S. Court of Appeals.
o Republicans look forward to learning more about Judge Sotomayor’s legal views and to determining whether her views reflect the values of mainstream America.
President Obama on Judicial Nominees
o Liberal ideology, not legal qualification, is likely to guide the president’s choice of judicial nominees.
o Obama has said his criterion for nominating judges would be their “heart” and “empathy.”
o Obama said he believes Supreme Court justices should understand the Court’s role “to protect people who may be vulnerable in the political process.”
o Obama has declared: “We need somebody who’s got the heart, the empathy, to recognize what it’s like to be a young teenage mom, the empathy to understand what it’s like to be poor or African-American or gay or disabled or old-and that’s the criterion by which I’ll be selecting my judges.”
Additional Talking Points
o Justice Souter’s retirement could move the Court to the left and provide a critical fifth vote for:
o Further eroding the rights of the unborn and property owners;
o Imposing a federal constitutional right to same-sex marriage;
o Stripping “under God” out of the Pledge of Allegiance and completely secularizing the public square;
o Abolishing the death penalty;
o Judicial micromanagement of the government’s war powers.
read more at The Hill.
So, the talking points seem to be what we should expect from the GOP. The same old lines of attack. These attacks are less about Sotomayor as the majority of the talking points about her seem to be of the “getting to know her better” nature. The talking points show there will be more attacks Pres. Obama. Either way, Sotomayor is most likely to get nominated and the attacks on her and Pres. Obama is just so the GOP can show off to their base and keep votes of disgruntled republicans. Conservative group called, The Judicial Confirmation Network, released this statement attacking Sotomayor as a left wing activist judge. Also this might be a sign that conservatives main line of attack on Sotomayor will be that of racial preferences in judicial decisions, which is probably not an area conservatives should venture in.
Judge Sotomayor is a liberal judicial activist of the first order who thinks her own personal political agenda is more important than the law as written. She thinks that judges should dictate policy, and that one’s sex, race, and ethnicity ought to affect the decisions one renders from the bench.
“She reads racial preferences and quotas into the Constitution, even to the point of dishonoring those who preserve our public safety. On September 11, America saw firsthand the vital role of America’s firefighters in protecting our citizens. They put their lives on the line for her and the other citizens of New York and the nation. But Judge Sotomayor would sacrifice their claims to fair treatment in employment promotions to racial preferences and quotas. The Supreme Court is now reviewing that decision.
“She has an extremely high rate of her decisions being reversed, indicating that she is far more of a liberal activist than even the current liberal activist Supreme Court.”
It seems by the majority of attacks on Sotomayor from the GOP and conservative activist groups that they will try to portray Sotomayor as a “liberal activist” judge. They problem is that theres little about policy in this debate, and if there is no policy to back up republicans “liberal activist” claims then their efforts go to waste and become ineffective. If this process is to involve integrity then the GOP needs to attack on substance. My opinion is that they can’t and I’ll be happy when Sotomayor finally gets confirmed.
Update: Apparently Mike Huckabee was expecting someone else to be on the courts. Ben Smith pointed out that Mike huckabee’s original statement named a Maria Sotomayor. It has since been corrected, but c’mon! If you attack someone, at least know the whole name of the person you’re attacking. I’m sure this was a general statement that was prepared for whoever Obama picked. If you’re going to attack political opposition, at least be creative! Here was his original statement,
The appointment of Maria Sotomayor for the Supreme Court is the clearest indication yet that President Obama’s campaign promises to be a centrist and think in a bipartisan way were mere rhetoric. Sotomayor comes from the far left and will likely leave us with something akin to the “Extreme Court” that could mark a major shift. The notion that appellate court decisions are to be interpreted by the “feelings” of the judge is a direct affront of the basic premise of our judicial system that is supposed to apply the law without personal emotion. If she is confirmed, then we need to take the blindfold off Lady Justice.—
