A few random thoughts/links about Obama tapping Sonia Sotomayor as his first pick:
- It's a good, solid pick. Not a home run like Pam Karlan would have been, but I also don't think she'll be another Stephen Breyer; I see another Ruth Bader Ginsburg at worst. For me, she would have been #2 among the viable candidates after Diane Wood, and I don't think Wood is clearly more liberal; they're within a range in which appellate court records don't reveal enough information to make firm judgments.
- If the GOP wants to make a big stand on affirmative action in the context of the first Hispanic-American nominee -- and hence continue its demographic death spiral -- I say bring it on.
- Useful link of cases at the Times here. If you didn't see it at the time, this Tom Goldstein post is also excellent.
- At the very least, this pick will make Jeffrey Rosen and Stuart Taylor cry. Let's just hope that their respective predictive track records continue to be what they've been. Amusingly, Taylor recently moved Sotomayor below well-known no-hoper Jennifer Granholm on his Supreme Court short list. Well, at least that's not as bad as "Sam Alito, the moderate who will disappoint conservatives..."
--Scott Lemieux
