What the Sotomayor confirmation means

In a 68-31 vote, Judge Sonia Sotomayor, who had arguably one of the most boring confirmation processes ever, was confirmed by the Senate in a mostly party line vote last night.

When David Souter announced he was retiring in June, and President Obama subsequently announced his intention to put Sotomayor to the bench, partisan lines already began to form and it seemed it would be a sizzling summer affair; promising that conservative and liberal groups would converge head-on in a red vs. blue idealogical smackfest. There were a couple of hiccups along the way, especialy with Ms. Sotomayor's famous "wise latina" quote, but the monotony and boredom of the subsequent hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee were mostly a dissappointment to anyone hoping for serious red meat policy fights.

A lot of this had to do with Republican senators on the Judiciary Committee, hoping to keep their party further out of the doghouse with hispanics and minority groups, they kept it a largely civil debate trying to show Sotomayor more as a liberal "activist" judge, than an affirmative action appointment. 9 Republicans in total voted for her confirmation, a smaller number, than say Ruth Bader Ginsburg or Stephen Breyer; who were Bill Clinton's appointments to the court and enjoyed wide bipartisan support. Four of the Republican votes; Kit Bond (MO), George Voinovich (OH), Mel Martinez (FL) (who also announced this morning he would be resigning his Senate seat), and Judd Gregg (NH), will not be seeking re-election in 2010.

Although there was quiet pressure on the GOP not to vote against the nation's first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice, there was arguably more pressure on the right from both grassroots conservative groups and the National Rifle Association; who said a vote for Sotomayor would count against them in their coveted NRA legislative ratings. Many Republicans and conservative Democrats tout these ratings to protect their right flank from future election opponents, as well as to tap into the NRA's large donor base. Democrats will surely try and use the vote to drive a further wedge between the GOP and minority groups. However, Republican cooperation on comprehensive immigration reform could blunt that argument, especially if that legislation passes this either this year or early next year.