Sonia Sotomayor confirmation hearings

Judge Sonia Sotomayor hearings began this morning. I’ve watched most, but not all, of the senator’s opening remarks. With that caveat, I will say that the two standouts this morning were Sen. Lindsay Graham from South Carolina and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse from Rhode Island. The first is a Republican and the second a Democrat, but that is only a coincidence in my choice. Both were thoughtful, gracious, and politically spot-on with their comments.

Graham noted that he strongly supported McCain in the presidential election last year, and that he would not have chosen Sotomayor as the current nominee, that in fact, he expected he would probably dislike the decisions she will make on the supreme court, but Obama won the election and his choice deserved the respect of the Senate. So, noting that unless Sotomayor had "a complete meltdown" during the hearings, he signalled that he expected to vote for her confirmation.