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Sotomayor Presents a Quandary to GOP
By Daniel Politi
Posted Wednesday, May 27, 2009, at 6:55 AM ET
The New York Times and Los Angeles Times banner, while everyone else leads with, President Obama's nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. The LAT easily wins the headline-of-the-day award by connecting Sotomayor's nomination to the day's other big news--California's Supreme Court upholding the ban on marriage for same-sex couples--with the banner headline: "A Latina in the Middle." By nominating the 54-year-old New Yorker, Obama is "aiming to make good on his promise to bring 'empathy' to the court by naming a liberal with a compelling life story who would be its first Hispanic justice," notes the Wall Street Journal. Obama made a point of emphasizing Sotomayor's "extraordinary journey" from a Bronx housing project to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York. "I have decided to nominate an inspiring woman who I believe will make a great justice," Obama said. The LAT points out that while she hasn't issued any significant rulings on hot-button issues like gay rights and abortion, "her narrowly written opinions resembled those of the justice she would replace, David H. Souter."

Obama's nomination, "paves the way for a heated summer debate on the role her gender, Hispanic roots and working-class Bronx background should play in her rulings," notes USA Today. But how much of a debate will there actually be? No one expects too many fireworks. The NYT says the "White House appeared eager to dare Republicans to stand against a history-making nomination." Indeed, Republicans seem to still be trying to decide how much they'll push back against Sotomayor, knowing full well that an "all-out assault ... could alienate both Latino and women voters" while at the same time "sidestepping a court battle could be deflating to the party's base and hurt efforts to rally conservatives going forward," points out the Washington Post.
Daniel Politi writes "Today's Papers" for Slate. He can be reached at todayspapers@slate.com.