(The following is a semi-crosspost of a Green Mountain Daily post of a brief chat I had with Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont on the upcoming confirmation battle for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. This has the meat of it, but I encourage folks to click over if you'd like to see the whole piece. And I apologize for any typos I missed, but its late and I need to get some sleep.)
When I spoke to Leahy on Tuesday during a break in Senate floor activity, it happened to be the day of renewed Republican attacks on Sotomayor. Leahy wasted no time (or words) laying out the motives for the over-the-top attacks, which now included her position on gun rights, the "empathy" thing, her involvement in the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund - even attempts to tie her to the mortgage crisis. He minced no words in characterizing their motivation for the attacks.
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Leahy: "They had fundraising letters going out even before she was nominated. You had immediately Rush Limbaugh, on television, saying she was the equivalent of the head of the Ku Klux Klan. And Newt Gingrich... saying that she was biased and bigoted and so on, or words to that effect... I think a lot of the Republican Senators I've talked with are embarrassed by this and want nothing to do with it.
She's going to be confrmed. I expect she'll be confirmed by a comfortable margin.
I remember when they made the same attacks about Eric Holder. They had Karl Rove going on television and he basically ordered the Republicans - they had to stop Eric Holder. By the time I finished the hearings on Holder and the debate on the floor, I was able to convince enough Senators so he got a much bigger vote than any of the last four Attorneys General - for the person they were going to stop.
I suspect that Judge Sotomayor will get a very substantial vote.
But the reason I'm also doing her hearing July instead of September as they requested, is that as long as they want to keep attacking her, she can't respond to these attacks except in the hearing. So we'll let them come before the hearing and get a response...
...So we'll see how the hearings go, of course a lot will depend on those, but I'll start the hearings the week after we come back from the 4th of July. I did hear from a couple senators they're going to be cramped for time to prepare - well, do as I'm doing, I'm giving up my 4th of July vacation, I'm willing to spend the whole weekend in Vermont preparing for this.
They didnt think that a weekend spent in Vermont was quite the punishment they'd like to give me."
odum: "It seems clear that Senator Jeff Sessions is going to be a very, very different ranking member than Sen. Specter, with whom you seemed to put a lot of effort into having a good working relationship. He has a different approach to politics, he's been described as an ideologue by critics. You've worked with hard-right counterparts in the past - such as Orrin Hatch - but Sessions would seem to present unique challenges that might take you out of your preferred modus operandi..."
Leahy: "...I've talked to Senator Sessions. I've tried to work closely with him. I've always kept my word to him - been fair to him. I told him this is a chance where he'll get more national attention than he's done and he'll have to make up his own mind.
Now obviously I cant tell him what to do, but I have told everyone that I'm not going to set different rules for her than we had for (Chief Justice) John Roberts, and I'm not going to sit and let her be a punching bag for week after week after week without being able to respond.
And we'll go by the hearing, and ultimately we'll vote for her or against her, and every Senator can make up their own mind. A Supreme Court nominee... often is there long after the President and the Senators are involved.
You have to decide - there's only 101 people in this country who really have a say in this Supreme Court Justice. Now there's 300 million americans - 101 people get involved. First and foremost the President nominates her, and 100 senators who can either vote for or vote against her. That's a pretty awesome responsibility. And I think its a responsibility that should be borne in real debate and real consideration (rather) than in cheap shot fundraising letters.
And I think that's the way the American People look at it because she scores very high in the public opinion polls and the Republicans who are attacking her score very poorly. Ii think they should forget about the fundraisers.
I have voted on every member of the US Supreme Court. And I've been here for all the hearings, not only for the ones who are there, but some of the ones who are no longer there like Justice O'Connor and Chief Justice Rehnquist. I voted on his nomination as Chief Justice, not as Justice, but - I have a rule that I will not meet the special interest groups of the right or the left when it comes to a Supreme Court nominee. I remember some of the groups on the left picketing in front of my office because I was going to support David Souter. They said we can't have a right winger like him. Well, the same groups would love to have him stay (laughs). So I have to make up my own mind. And I will. And I only half-joke about being up in Vermont and working on the break. Our house is really kind of a nice quiet place to work. I dont have the phones ringing, I dont have distractions, I can be in my chinos and a t-shirt..."
odum: "Sounds like blogging."
Leahy: "Yeah- cup of coffee and my pajamas."
odum: "It seems like there's a real potential here for hearings to become a real watershed event on race and gender in America. With Sessions his history with racial issues on the one hand, it just seems like both Sotomayor and Sessions have the potential to become almost archetypal figures of the past vs. a more multicultural future, which could make these hearings into a real cultural arena. Do you think there's the potential for the hearings to play out that way?"
Leahy: I think its possible Senator Sessions will surprise people...
...We need to make sure that every Senator has a chance to ask the questions they want. But in the end, I will have a vote in committee, and in the end I will have a vote on the Senate floor and once we have those votes, she will be confirmed.
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Here, again, is a link to the GMD piece for more.