Lindsey Graham, who tried very hard to be critical while giving Sonia Sotomayor the benefit of the doubt, calling her a person of "good character. Graham Nonetheless revealed more than he intended in his testimony. He told Sotomayor that "none of us would have picked you, we would have picked Miguel Estrada." Estrada was a Republican nominee whose appointment was derailed by a controvery over his far right views.
The GOP nominally doesn't believe in considering race as a factor in picking judicial nominees, but Graham's statement suggests otherwise: thinking of the vacancy as a "Latino seat," Graham suggested the GOP would have picked a Latino as well. Just not Sotomayor. So much for "racial preferences".
Graham also said that he didn't want Sotomayor to think his colleagues "wouldn't vote for a Latino nominee." Well, obviously not. In trying to defend the GOP against perceptions of racism, he revealed their selective support for affirmative action.
-- A. Serwer
