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-- A. Serwer
Jeffrey Rosen argues for Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation.
Conservatives are already citing my initial piece on Sotomayor as a basis for opposing her. This willfully misreads both my piece and the follow-up response. My concern was that she might not make the most effective liberal voice on the Court--not that she didn't have the potential to be a fine justice. Questions of temperament are often overlooked, but history suggests that they are the most relevant in predicting judicial success. (Justice Scalia may be a brilliant bomb-thrower, but has failed in his attempts to build coalitions and bipartisan majorities.) Now is the time to think more broadly about the role Justice Sotomayor is likely to play on the Supreme Court, and I look forward to doing that in the weeks ahead.I don't think conservatives "misread" Rosen's piece. But despite the value placed on Rosen's initial counsel, I doubt conservatives will pay attention to his subsequent caveats.
-- A. Serwer
