You gotta give Team Obama big credit for political smarts. Those guys don’t miss a trick. The nomination of Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court was both a solid progressive pick and perfect red meat bait for Republican conservatives. The only way the bait could have been made more attractive would be if… No, on second thought I don’t know how she could be better suited to the job of killing Hispanic support for the GOP. 

Republican conservatives have no choice but to oppose Sotomayor. She’s been on their hit list since the Clinton years. So, they’ll drag out their litmus tests for abortion, gay marriage, and social engineering. Maybe they’ll even suggest filibustering. Rush Limbaugh, Dick Cheney and Huckabee won’t back off. More or less moderate Republicans like Powell, Gingrich and Huntsman will simply clam up. They dare not support Sotomayor. The best they can hope for is some nanny problem or unpaid tax bill to derail her. 

Meanwhile, every question a Republican asks in the Judiciary Committee will sound like criticism of Latinos to Hispanic voters. Those voters still remember the way congressional Republicans killed immigration reform. Now, they’ll wonder why a first class lady like Sonia is being dissed. They might reach the conclusion that Republicans don’t like Latinos. That would be taking the issue too personally. These days, the GOP doesn’t much like any voter who isn’t white and right wing.