It is a great moment of celebration that on Saturday, Sonia Sotomayor was sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts to be the 111th member of the Supreme Court, its third woman and its first Hispanic.
Sotomayor is eminently qualified to serve on the Court, and yet only 9 Republicans joined all the Democrats (minus Ted Kennedy, who was home ill in Massachusetts), to confirm her 69-31.
It turned out three New Englanders joined three Southerners and three Midwesterners to back Sotomayor.   Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine were joined by Judd Gregg, who had considered being Secretary of Commerce under President Obama.  Lindsey Graham, Lamar Alexander and Mel Martinez all saw Obama as having the right, as the winner of the White House, to choose who he wanted, even if they did not agree on many issues with her, an attitude that should have been accepted by many other Republicans in the Senate.  Richard Lugar and George Voinovich were surprisingly joined by Christopher Bond, who also said that Obama was entitled to his choice as the winner of the election.
The big disappointment, of course, was John McCain’s refusal to back Sotomayor, which many had thought was possible. But the fact that 31 Republicans refused to back Sotomayor will hurt them politically in future elections, as it leaves the impression that they do not care about gaining Hispanic support.  Regrettable action, but nothing new regarding the Republican party.