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Will It Get Ugly? Both Sides Prepared for Start of Sotomayor Hearings Monday

July 12, 2009 11:37 AM

In a letter to the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee released by the White House this morning, Russell Laine, the chair of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, endorsed the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, saying she's "consistently demonstrated a firm understanding of, and a deep appreciation for, the challenges and complexities confronting our nation’s law enforcement officers."

The White House trumpeted the endorsement, saying that the IACP's backing means that "Judge Sotomayor now has the support of every major law enforcement organization in the U.S., representing nearly all of law enforcement."

But the White House knows that such endorsements can mean little in confirmation battles.

So officials are pulling out all the stops, trying to leave nothing to chance.

Sotomayor, White House officials say, paid 89 courtesy calls on members of the Senate, which they say is a new record.

A senior White House official tells ABC News that those meetings were immeasurably helpful in preparation for the hearings that start Monday because "you get a feel for what they want to know and how her answers work."

"We've spent most of the past two weeks in extensive mock hearings, so she gets a good feel for the questions and can hone her answers," the official said. "Her style is down to earth and straightforward -- not the sort of great speechmaker that [now-Supreme Court Chief Justice John] Roberts was, but a more pragmatic and 'just the facts' style that [former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day] O'Connor had when she was up."

Those mock hearings have been conducted by Vice President Biden's chief of staff, Ron Klain, White House Counsel Greg Craig, Counsel to the Vice President Cynthia Hogan, Associate White House Counsel Susan Davies and Deputy White House Counsel Cassandra Butts, among others.

The ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., told reporters Friday that the hearing "will be focused on her views and writings. I will ask her if she agrees with the opinions of the organizations she supported."

Unquestionably, this will mean questions about her "wise Latina" remarks, as well as her leadership in the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund.

It will also include her ruling against the white and Latino firefighters in the New Haven firefighters' case Ricci v DeStefano, since overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in a 5-4 ruling.

The White House has dismissed criticisms against Sotomayor's ruling in that case, saying that "she applied 2nd Circuit precedent" and her ruling “shows restraint.”

But certainly not everyone agrees, and Ricci -- one of the white firefighters who alleged racial discrimination against the city of New Haven -- appears on the Republicans' witness list.

On Friday, the liberal group People for the American Way sent e-mails to journalists saying they needed to look into Ricci's "troubled and litigious work history," McClatchy Newspapers reported. Ricci filed a lawsuit in 1995 saying the city of New Haven discriminated against him regarding his dyslexia, the liberal group pointed out.

Over the weekend the NAACP, kicking off its 100th year anniversary convention, vowed a "full-court press" to make sure Sotomayor is confirmed, the New York Daily News reported.

"We fully support her," said NAACP President Benjamin Jealous. "An attack against one of us is an attack against all of us." Jealous said, "Sessions should cool his heels and focus on her qualifications."

Polls, in general, show strong public support for Sotomayor; a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll indicated 62 percent of the American people think she should be confirmed.

A recent CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey showed a tighter margin, with 47 percent support, 40 percent opposed and 13 percent unsure. CNN's poll director said one reason why the poll might show less support for Sotomayor is because CNN's survey, unlike other polls, does not identify Sotomayor as President Obama's pick.

The hearing kicks off tomorrow at 10 a.m. in the Hart Senate Office building.

Sotomayor will be introduced by home state Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, followed by the judge herself.

"Her foot is still in a boot/cast," the White House official said, adding that, physically, she's in quite a bit of discomfort. 

Starting at 10 a.m. ET, ABCNews.com will feature live-streaming coverage of the Sotomayor confirmation on a special section at ABCNews.com/Politics/SoniaSotomayor.

- jpt

July 12, 2009 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (37)

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matt..."The Dems have no shame and no class as far as in its attacks on Miguel Estrada, GOP nominee for Federal Appeals Court. Why should they stop now."...LOL All Politics..All the Time..Nothing changes, EVEN for the Dems..

Posted by: Parallex View | Jul 13, 2009 12:24:24 PM

Seeing I cant say anything about sonia because of the censors here.......... Is Obama done apologizing to the world?

Posted by: American Infidel | Jul 13, 2009 10:43:34 AM

Just another waste of time. We know she will be confirmed we know Obama picked a Latino for political purposes so that the Republicans couldn't really object without losing the Latino vote.
Another game of Political posturing.

Posted by: karen | Jul 13, 2009 10:27:33 AM

This is repubs revenge for Harriet Miers.....remember her? She was the one dubya selected who had no qualifications except being one of bushie's cronies. The 'pubs were upset because she was forced to back out. That was funny!

It's all about revenge!!

Posted by: js45601 | Jul 13, 2009 9:50:40 AM

"... whining like a baby."

And, so it begins. The treatment of Ricci will be derisive and vicious. His personal and tax records will get rifled through by enthusiastic, zealous and lawless followers of Obama.

The Supreme Court affirmed that you cannot change the rules for promotion after you've already meddled with the test to try to influence the outcome. Ricci and the others deserved the promotions that they qualified for by passing the test.

Posted by: WhereWasThePress? | Jul 13, 2009 8:51:44 AM

The GOP has had no shame and no class so far in its attacks on Sotomayor. Why would they stop now?

Posted by: matt | Jul 13, 2009 8:02:09 AM

Ricci has no business there whining like a baby. lol

Posted by: kelly | Jul 12, 2009 11:37:31 PM

===Just curious, who is included in "one of us"?

Posted by: WhereWasThePress? | Jul 12, 2009 8:52:15 PM===

Sotomayor, obviously.

Posted by: Axey | Jul 12, 2009 9:12:38 PM

"On Friday, the (Soros funded) liberal group People for the American Way sent e-mails to journalists saying they needed to look into Ricci's 'troubled and litigious work history,'"

It's getting ugly alright. The left is going to pull out all the stops and try to smear Ricci like they did with Joe the Plumber and Sarah Palin.

"We fully support her," said NAACP President Benjamin Jealous. "An attack against one of us is an attack against all of us."

Just curious, who is included in "one of us"?

Posted by: WhereWasThePress? | Jul 12, 2009 8:52:15 PM

Members of the SupreamCourt should NOT be there for LIFE. Eight years sshould be the limit. After that time, they become dead fish.
.

Posted by: Larry Wallace | Jul 12, 2009 8:30:38 PM

Smartguy....There were 6 years FOLLOWING the Clinton administration where the Republicans had majorities in both the House and Senate in addition to a sitting Republican President.

If what Clinton did was so awful, why didn't they overturn it?

btw - look up the Home Ownership Society. Bush campaigned on it heavily for re-election. He wanted everyone to be able to own a home.......

Posted by: JKS | Jul 12, 2009 7:26:49 PM

The bad economy was caused by Dubya and deregulation. Now it seems there is no end in sight. Unemployment is skyrocketing and Republicans like the barbarain Arnold are using this crisis as an excuse to slash education, ensuring that people remain in poverty. I wonder if the Kennedys are embarassed by this riff-raff. He poaches their family's legacy all the time in his speeches.

Furthermore Republicans controlled Congress from 1994 to 2006 and they pushed hard for deregulation. They still are.

I wish Hillary had won. But the limousine libs turned on her and now we are stuck with a President who doesn't know how to stand up to the Republicans or to the crooks on Wall St.

Posted by: bubbles | Jul 12, 2009 7:25:07 PM

They gave us a war and a global recession.

Actually the global recession was caused by skyrocketing oil prices and the depression in this country was caused by the Clinton administration and liberal congress passing laws requiring banks to provide home loans to people who didn't qualify them...
this in turn caused the housing bubble..which eventually burst...DUH

Posted by: Smartguy | Jul 12, 2009 6:58:01 PM

"Axey:"===She's obviously less ideological than Roberts===
Obviously? To you, maybe. Not to me."
:Shrug: Their official judgments are public record."

Exactly Axey's point, I'm thinking.

Posted by: moderate | Jul 12, 2009 6:56:18 PM

Sotomayor is a highly qualified judge and she will be confirmed.

The Republicans on the court stopped the 2000 vote count which stole the election for Dubya, so those hypocrites should shut up about judicial activism.

They gave us a war and a global recession.

Posted by: bubbles | Jul 12, 2009 6:43:58 PM

feel sorry for what's left of the legitimate right wing in the United States.

This kind of hate spamming, only serves to further alienate decent, thinking Americans.

I SAID stop whining liberals and what do you do??whine even more...oh well, I tried...by the way...you mean there is a LEGITIMATE right wing of the US??!!!

Posted by: Badboy | Jul 12, 2009 6:31:39 PM

who cares what this racist thinks....she is already in...she is racist just like Obama and Holder...and the rest of us are a nation of cowards..

Posted by: Badboy | Jul 12, 2009 6:14:28 PM

Axey:"===She's obviously less ideological than Roberts===

Obviously? To you, maybe. Not to me."

:Shrug: Their official judgments are public record.

Posted by: jhw539 | Jul 12, 2009 4:53:40 PM

===She's obviously less ideological than Roberts===

Obviously? To you, maybe. Not to me.

Posted by: Axey | Jul 12, 2009 4:29:21 PM

===She's obviously less ideological than Roberts===

Obviously? To you, maybe. Not to me.

Posted by: Axey | Jul 12, 2009 4:29:19 PM

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