Opinion: Obama nominates Sotomayor, and the GOP goes after ... Howard Dean?!?
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This is really pathetic.
A summary: The Republican National Committee, having already released Chairman Michael Steele’s boilerplate statement on the Sonia Sotomayor nomination, took issue with the Democratic Party’s comments on Supreme Court selections -- from more than three years ago. Moreover, the Democrat responsible for the statements -- Howard Dean, responding in 2005 to the nominations of Samuel Alito and John Roberts -- hasn’t been his party’s chairman since January, when Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine took over.
Slightly less lame than this pointless comparison is Steele’s statement itself, which reads as if it could have been offered in response to almost anyone’s nomination:
Republicans look forward to learning more about federal appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor’s thoughts on the importance of the Supreme Court’s fidelity to the Constitution and the rule of law. Supreme Court vacancies are rare, which makes Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination a perfect opportunity for America to have a thoughtful discussion about the role of the Supreme Court in our daily lives. Republicans will reserve judgment on Sonia Sotomayor until there has been a thorough and thoughtful examination of her legal views.
Memo to Steele: It’s OK for a party chairman to publicly take issue with the political leanings of someone as consequential as a Supreme Court nominee. It’s not as if this really matters, but since the GOP brought it up, it was entirely appropriate for Dean to express his party’s concern over the anti-abortion stances of two people who could impose their views on the public for a generation. And Sotomayor was on everyone’s short list of potential nominees the moment outgoing Justice David Souter announced his retirement. Steele had ample time to gain a competent enough understanding of Sotomayor’s judicial philosophy to draft a statement with some red meat.