The vote on the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor is scheduled to take place today. Yesterday retiring Senators Judd Gregg (R-NH), Kit Bond (R-MO), and Mel Martinez (R-FL) announced that they are among the handful of Republicans who will support her nomination.
The country, Bond
said, "is tired of partisanship infecting every debate. The country is
tired of every action by the Congress becoming a political battle."
Earlier in the day, Martinez said he believed Sotomayor would "rule with restraint." And he dismissed the furor over her "wise Latina" remark -- saying that the New York federal appellate judge's opinions were what mattered most, "not what she said to a group of students one day." . . .
Martinez, a Cuban American, charged that some Republicans were using Sotomayor's speeches as "an excuse" not to vote for her confirmation. Her critics, he said, "have yet to produce objective evidence that she has allowed personal bias to influence her judicial decision-making."
Bond offered a less-spirited defense of Sotomayor, saying she "has proven herself a well-qualified jurist." He made it clear that his vote was an expression of his belief that "elections have consequences" and that the victorious party should be allowed some leeway in choosing its nominees.
"If some are saying that a Democratic president should not have a liberal justice, does that mean a Republican president should not have conservative justices?" he asked. "That is not something I could support."
Earlier in the day, Martinez said he believed Sotomayor would "rule with restraint." And he dismissed the furor over her "wise Latina" remark -- saying that the New York federal appellate judge's opinions were what mattered most, "not what she said to a group of students one day." . . .
Martinez, a Cuban American, charged that some Republicans were using Sotomayor's speeches as "an excuse" not to vote for her confirmation. Her critics, he said, "have yet to produce objective evidence that she has allowed personal bias to influence her judicial decision-making."
Bond offered a less-spirited defense of Sotomayor, saying she "has proven herself a well-qualified jurist." He made it clear that his vote was an expression of his belief that "elections have consequences" and that the victorious party should be allowed some leeway in choosing its nominees.
"If some are saying that a Democratic president should not have a liberal justice, does that mean a Republican president should not have conservative justices?" he asked. "That is not something I could support."
Senator Gregg said:
Although Judge Sotomayor and I may not see eye-to-eye on all issues or
share the same political ideologies, our democratic system should allow
for such differences. Judge Sotomayor is President
Obama’s choice, and she is obviously well qualified to be the next
Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. Her views and decisions,
although strongly stated, are certainly not out of the mainstream of
American jurisprudence or political thought.
All Democratic Senators have pledged to support the nomination, and five other Republicans have done so (Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Susan Collins (R-ME), Richard Lugar (R-IN), Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Lindsay Graham (R-SC)). The Caucus reports that retiring Senator Voinovich (OH-R) "is the only member of his party not to announce his how he will vote."
UPDATE: Voinovich is a "yes" on Sotomayor's nomination.
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