Sotomayor nomination splits GOP

Conservative activists are outspoken in their opposition. But Republican senators who will actually vote on her nomination offer muted responses. Some think the party has a chance to reach Latino vote

By Peter Wallsten and Richard Simon

6:07 PM PDT, May 26, 2009

Reporting from Washington — Rush Limbaugh called her a "reverse racist." The conservative Judicial Confirmation Network said she was an activist with a "personal political agenda" and should be blocked from the Supreme Court.

But underneath the predictable bombast from conservative groups that had been waiting to pounce on whomever President Obama picked to fill his first vacancy on the court, the nomination Tuesday of Sonia Sotomayor brought a surprising development: The Republican senators who will actually vote on her were not following the activists' script.

Instead, GOP senators offered muted, sometimes admiring, responses, and seemed to be taking their cues from a quieter group of voices within the party cautioning that to oppose the country's first Latina Supreme Court nominee would amount to political suicide.

Moreover, some party strategists are telling GOP senators that to attack Sotomayor is to waste an opportunity for Republicans to appear welcoming and repair damage from recent policy debates in which conservative support for restricting immigration turned off many Latino voters.

"A lot of Republicans are worried that [fighting the Sotomayor nomination] could be the last straw when it comes to the party's ability to reach the Hispanic community," said Robert de Posada, a Latino GOP strategist who said he was advising Republican staffers on the Senate Judiciary Committee. "Republicans are in a very awkward position."

Lionel Sosa, a Texas-based Republican ad maker who designed Latino outreach for Presidents Reagan and George W. Bush, said that opposing Sotomayor "would be one more nail in the Republicans' image coffin in terms of Latino voters."

"When you're anti the first Latina on the Supreme Court, you're anti my family," Sosa added. "As a Republican, I would take it that these people are anti-Latino. The worst thing the Republicans can do is oppose her."

The GOP's dilemma on Sotomayor is the latest example of the party's internal struggle over how to reinvent itself at a time that its ranks and voter base are increasingly dominated by Southern, conservative white men.

Five years ago, Bush won reelection by performing unusually well among Latinos for a Republican -- winning more than 40% -- and some Democrats were fretting over how they would respond if Bush were to name his longtime friend, Alberto R. Gonzales, to be the Supreme Court's first Latino justice.

But conservatives blocked Bush's efforts to legalize millions of undocumented immigrants, and the harsh rhetoric of the debate sent Latino voters fleeing the party -- with fewer than 1 in 3 Latinos voting for the GOP presidential nominee last year, helping put crucial states such as Florida, Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico into the Democratic column.

Democrats, seeking additional gains in Florida, Texas and Arizona, did not hesitate to seize on the potential political benefits.

The national party distributed an announcement in Spanish. And Obama, in his formal White House announcement and in a similar taped message e-mailed to voters, pointed to Sotomayor's Puerto Rican roots and her Latina appearance when he said she had shown "it doesn't matter where you come from, what you look like, or what challenges life throws your way -- no dream is beyond reach in the United States of America."

The GOP dispute broke out almost instantly, and not everybody was willing to concede that the pick was a guaranteed net positive for the White House.

Conservative advocacy groups, citing Sotomayor's recent ruling on the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals against a white firefighter claiming racial discrimination in hiring and promotions, thought her nomination could open an emotional battle over bigger questions of race and affirmative action -- issues that Obama has tried to avoid.

Limbaugh, the conservative radio commentator, sought to fan those flames Tuesday, citing a 2002 quote from Sotomayor in which she said that her experiences as a Latino woman might guide her to more thoughtful decisions. "If that's not a racist statement, I don't know what is. Reverse racist or whatever," Limbaugh said.

But the words coming from GOP senators struck a sharp contrast.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who is a member of the Judiciary Committee and heads the GOP's Senate campaign panel, told reporters that Sotomayor offered a "compelling American success story and something that we can all admire and respect about our country."

In interviews and printed statements, Cornyn and other Republican senators tread carefully as they promised an aggressive -- but respectful -- confirmation process.

"Our job now is to find out the rest of the story when it comes to temperament and judicial philosophy," Cornyn said.

"While I celebrate Sonia Sotomayor's life story," said Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), in a common refrain, "I am troubled by some of her statements. She deserves a fair and respectful hearing."

Sen. Mel Martinez, a Cuban American who has said that his party's rhetoric on immigration drove away Latino voters, said in an interview that he had so far been satisfied with the language being used by his colleagues, though he added: "I'll be trying to talk to my colleagues about my thoughts on how to approach it."

Some GOP strategists and officials said they believed a full-blown confirmation battle could prove damaging for a number of reasons beyond the further alienation of Latino voters -- particularly given that Republicans are unlikely to have enough votes to block her.

"We don't want to give more reasons to be perceived as the 'party of no,' " said one official, quoting a favorite line from Democratic attacks, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

Terry Holt, a former Bush White House advisor, said the "real question" is whether taking on a losing fight is worth the political capital. But he added that the party should ensure that the debate over Sotomayor should be about her merits as a justice -- not her ethnicity.

"Special interests in the Republican Party should not be in the position of forcing us to do something that's politically stupid," Holt said.

Some Republicans said that the Sotomayor nomination could actually present an unusual opportunity. If they fall into line and vote for the first Latino justice, then Republicans might regain enough credibility with that voting bloc to neutralize any political benefit to be gained by Obama.

Specifically, said de Posada, if Obama does not act this year on his campaign promise to pass a legalization program for millions of undocumented immigrants, Republicans can make the case to Latinos that the Democratic president failed to deliver.

"They would have grounds to go to the Hispanic community and say, yes it's great to have a Hispanic justice, but on the most important and immediate issue that you care about, you're being ignored," de Posada said. "That's an opening for Republicans."

peter.wallsten@latimes.com

richard.simon@latimes.com