by Andrew Kohut, President, Pew Research Center
Special to the New York Times
From the very beginning Barack Obama’s nomination of Sonia Sotomayor was a no-win situation for the Republican Party — and that is the way it has played out. Yes, by not going all out to oppose her nomination, the GOP probably did not worsen its woeful standing among women and Latino voters. But the likely sizable Republican vote against Judge Sotomayor, and the very tough criticism of the New York judge from the “unofficial” Republican leaders — conservative commentators – is more than enough to remind these constituencies of why they don’t vote Republican very often these days.
At the same time, the Republican Party’s lack of overwhelming opposition to Judge Sotomayor may have only further exacerbated another GOP problem; the demoralization of its base…
Read the full commentary at nytimes.com.
