RealClearPolitics has a useful roundup today of newspaper editorial reaction to the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court. Most of them were positive (New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Chicago Tribune, Miami Herald, San Francisco Chronicle). One (USAToday) was worded in a positive fashion, but touted as legitimate every dumb and dishonest question about the judge.
What was most interesting about the negative editorials (Wall Street Journal, Washington Times, Investor’s Business Daily) was their heavy and even angry focus on the “identity politics” and “activist” arguments against Sotomayor, each totally dependent on one out-of-context quote from one speech she delivered. Sure, editorials the day after a Supreme Court appointment tend to rely on the material at hand, but still, if the opposition to Sotomayor continues to sustain itself on this thin gruel, it probably won’t last long.