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Obama a Pragmatist, Risk Taker in Choosing Sotomayor

Posted June 2, 2009

The tableau was unique in American history: the first black president standing before the nation to introduce the first Latina ever chosen for the Supreme Court.

To be sure, Barack Obama's nomination of Sonia Sotomayor represents the kind of diversity that Americans have long celebrated, and in many ways it spoke volumes about how far the nation has come in promoting opportunity and equality for all. Describing Sotomayor as "an inspiring woman," Obama said he chose the 54-year-old appeals court judge from the South Bronx because of her rigorous intellect, her mastery of the law, and her "recognition of the limits of the judicial role."

But in announcing her nomination Tuesday, the president said another factor was crucial to him in a very personal way: Sotomayor's "common touch and sense of compassion." Obama praised her life experience as the daughter of a Puerto Rican working-class family whose single mother worked two jobs, a diabetic whose father died when she was 9, a striver whose educational achievements at Princeton and Yale Law School lifted her to the top of the legal profession.

"Between the two of them, they've mastered the American dream two-step," says William Galston, a political scientist and former White House adviser to President Bill Clinton. "If you are against her, you are against the American dream." At least that's what White House strategists want the Senate to conclude when it takes up her nomination, which is considered very likely to be confirmed this summer.

Sotomayor's life story, in fact, was all the more compelling for Obama because it echoed his own humble beginnings and rise to the top of the political world. And in the process of choosing her, the new president revealed more about himself than he has in nearly anything else he has done so far.

The pragmatist. Obama did not choose a left-wing "bomb thrower" for the high court who might have delighted the liberals who dominate his political base, asenior White House aide points out. Instead, he selected a jurist who, while liberal, appears to be within the mainstream. Advisers say Obama didn't want to antagonize GOP senators by naming someone who seemed too extreme. "What leaps out at you is his utterly nonideological persona," argues Will Marshall, president of the centrist Progressive Policy Institute. "This is a guy who is pragmatic but understands that his policies need to be framed by broadly shared values."

The risk taker. While rejecting a far-left candidate, Obama chose the most controversial of the finalists, who included such apparently safer choices as Solicitor General Elena Kagan, federal appeals court Judge Diane Wood of Chicago, and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, a former Arizona governor. Obama knew that some of Sotomayor's past actions would be flash points for conservatives, such as her ruling as part of a three-judge panel to uphold a decision by New Haven, Conn., to discard a firefighter test because no African-Americans scored high enough to be promoted. White firefighters sued, claiming unfair treatment, but the panel found that the city acted within its rights. (That case is now before the Supreme Court.) Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, an influential GOP strategist, branded the decision "racist," and it is sure to come up in Sotomayor's confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee in a few weeks.

Other potential flash points are Sotomayor's comment that appellate courts are where "policy is made" and a remark that a Latina judge would more often "reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."

But those issues didn't stop Obama. "He meant what he was saying when he talked about the criteria for the appointment and said life experience was as important as being a member of the law school elite," says a senior Democratic strategist who has worked on judicial nominations. "We know that he is willing to get out of his comfort zone."

The decider. Obama again showed that he can be very decisive and doesn't like to dither in making big choices. Aides say he wanted to choose a high court nominee to replace the retiring David Souter in time for that person to join the court for its fall term in September. That meant he didn't have any time to waste. Aides say that as soon as Souter announced his retirement, Obama buckled down to the task of reviewing the candidates' résumés and secretly interviewing the finalists.

The savvy politician. His choice of the first Latina for the Supreme Court puts Republicans in a tight spot. GOP senators will be reluctant to harshly attack Sotomayor because they could be seen as insensitive to women and Hispanics, two demographic groups that are crucial to GOP success but have trended toward Democrats in recent years. In addition, if the loudest voices attacking her come from bombastic radio host Rush Limbaugh and abrasive, ideology-driven conservatives such as Gingrich and Republican strategist Karl Rove, the Republicans will find it that much harder to expand their base, White House strategists say.

There were other indications of political savvy, such as announcing the nomination while Congress was on recess and out of town, which minimized the immediate blowback.

The nomination will serve as a test run for Obama's political machine. The Democratic National Committee is planning to use the massive database generated by Obama's presidential campaign to drum up support for Sotomayor. Organizing for America, the carryover group that mobilized the grass roots for Obama in 2008, is now installed at the DNC to back Obama's agenda, and the nomination will be an early test of how effective the organization is in rallying the millions of Obama supporters as a cohesive and enduring force.

In the next few weeks, interest groups and constituency organizations will have their turn assessing the nomination and taking sides. And Sotomayor, who has been confirmed by the Senate for two previous judicial appointments, will start making the rounds on Capitol Hill next week to solicit support, shepherded by New York Sen. Chuck Schumer and promoted by Vice President Joe Biden, a former senator.

Obama strategists say they hope Sotomayor's credentials and life story will prove so compelling that her nomination will sail through. Her supporters argue that, in the end, it will be very hard to argue against the American dream.