Sotomayor Wins Republicans' Backing

As he bucks GOP party line, challengers line up

(NEWSER) - Dick Lugar gets the "maverick" treatment from the New York Times and Politico, with both suggesting that the Indiana Republican's willingness to buck his own party on key issues leaves him vulnerable to a Tea Party primary challenge in 2012:

• Politico : Tea Party candidates are already "lining up to oppose him, and are poised to use his friendship with Obama, his lobbying on behalf of START, his support for a repeal of 'don’t ask, don’t tell' and his opposition to a ban on earmarks as issues." Full story here .

(NEWSER) - GOP senators may have pooh-poohed Sonia Sotomayor’s “wise Latina” comment, but wise Latinas everywhere are wearing the phrase like a badge of honor, the New York Times reports. From t-shirts to blogs, women of Hispanic heritage have warmed to the phrase much like other minority groups appropriate slurs, a linguist says. “‘Wise Latina’ is not just sticking your chin up. It’s a fist in the air.” More»

(AP) - The Senate confirmed Sonia Sotomayor today as the first Hispanic justice on the Supreme Court. The vote was 68-31 for Sotomayor, President Barack Obama's first high court nominee. She becomes the 111th justice and just the third woman to serve. Democrats praised the 55-year-old Sotomayor as a mainstream moderate. But most Republicans voted against her, saying she'd bring personal bias and a liberal agenda to the bench. More»

(NEWSER) - As she coasts toward confirmation, Sonia Sotomayor picked up the support of a 9th Republican today, reports MSNBC. Ohio Sen. George Voinovich’s promised yea joins yesterday's announcement by Kit Bond of Missouri and on-again-off-again Obama cabinet nominee Judd Gregg of New Hampshire. Voinovich is among four of six retiring GOP senators who have pledged their support to Sotomayor—which means almost half of her GOP support won’t face reelection. More»

Says they may disagree, but she's 'well-qualified'

(NEWSER) - Lamar Alexander today became the first Republican leader to support Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court, Politico reports. Her “political and judicial philosophy may be different than mine, especially regarding Second Amendment rights,” the third-ranking GOP senator said, but “I will vote to confirm her because she is well-qualified by experience, temperament, character and intellect.” More»