GOP Insiders: Opposing Sotomayor A Bad Idea

According to National Journal's latest Political Insiders Poll, a majority of GOP insiders say it's a bad idea for Republicans to oppose Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation as the next Supreme Court justice. When asked "Would it be politically smart for Republicans to try to block the confirmation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor?", 64 percent of the 120 89 GOP insiders polled said no; 24 percent said yes, and 12 percent said it depends.

(Democratic insiders, for their part, had the same reaction, by a margin of 89 percent to 8 percent.)

A few telling responses, collected by NJ, reflect the fear that opposing Sotomayor would alienate Hispanics:

"Demographics 101: Don't pick another fight that appears anti-Hispanic."

"Don't rain on big Latino parades, especially when the outcome is already certain."

"It would be lunacy. Woman; Latina: two groups the GOP needs to court."

See a list of the 120 respondents, many of them political strategists, at nationaljournal.com.

This article available online at:

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2009/05/gop-insiders-opposing-sotomayor-a-bad-idea/18490/