A No Win Situation.

With the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, President Obama has set up what may be an epic battle between the establishment GOP and their voting base. The problem is of course this, opposing Sotomayor on specious grounds will further alienate Hispanics from the Republican Party. On the other hand if Republicans in Congress do not vigorously oppose Sotomayor then their wingnut base, led by the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity and countless other media hacks, will throw a major hissy fit. Now in my mind the calculus should be simple. Republicans in Congress SHOULD nip at Sotomayor's ankles a little bit and then confirm her with a lot of support from their side. At a time when the GOP is bleeding from just about every demographic, they can ill afford to lose Hispanics for a generation. But unfortunately the establishment GOP has shown little appetite for taking on the base of their party, even when they know not doing so will hurt them electorally. Not only that we have seen already this year how cowardly Congressional Republicans are when it comes to taking on Rushbo and his pals. I think its highly likely that Limbaugh and the rest will say some pretty disgusting and demeaning things about Sotomayor and if there aren't establishment GOP voices willing to pushback on the vitriol it might not be enough that they vote for Sotomayor. The Republican Party is now seen as a party for southern white males. This may end up pushing that perception to southern white RACIST males. Now hopefully they will grow a backbone in the next week or so and realize that the base will get over it if Sotomayor is confirmed but Hispanics will not if she doesn't. But I have no faith in their ability to lead their base instead of allowing the tail to wag the dog. I guess we will all have to see how this plays out.