Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton and Sonia Sotomayor: "Winners." So say a majority of Americans asked to assess the political winners of 2009 - with the first lady leading the list. Nearly three-quarters of those surveyed by the Gallup Poll - 73 percent - say the president's wife was a winner in American politics this year. The secretary of state was not far behind: 70 percent calling her a political winner. The president, however, at 58 percent, ranked only slightly ahead of his first appo... (more)

I don’t think there was any question she’d become a Justice, but I think it is surprising that more Republicans didn’t vote for. Especially John McCain. (more)

WASHINGTON - The Senate's top Republican said Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor fails the test of impartiality despite her impressive background, while the senior Democrat defended her as a mainstream moderate, as the Senate prepared to debate the judge expected to be confirmed as the first Hispanic and third female justice. (more)

As expected, the Senate Judiciary Committee endorsed Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court, by a vote of 13-6. The nomination now goes to the Senate floor, next week. (more)

Judge Sonia Sotomayor said Wednesday neither President Barack Obama nor anyone else in the administration asked her views on abortion rights before she was nominated for the Supreme Court. (more)

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor defended herself Tuesday against charges that her speeches and rulings show racial bias, telling a Senate panel vetting her nomination that critics had misunderstood her record. (more)

As Judge Sonia Sotomayor's Supreme Court nomination began to get its hearing in the Senate, a campaign watchdog group says Sotomayor has a proven track record of taking on the issue of "big money in politics." The same group also took issue with the top Senate Republican's opposition to her nomination, saying Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell prefers to maintain a "pay-for-play" system in politics. (more)

On the cusp of history, Sonia Sotomayor listened intently in a packed Senate hearing room Monday as lawmakers began confirmation hearings on her appointment as the nation's first Hispanic Supreme Court justice. (more)

The ABA has given Sonia Sotomayor a unanimous "well qualified" ranking. This is the highest possible ranking given to judicial nominees. Presidents and Congress have consulted the ABA judicial rankings since the 1950s... (more)

Last month I suggested that the GOP filibuster the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court. Yesterday on CBS's "Face that Nation" Sen. McConnell put the filibuster option on the table. "I have consistently opposed filibustering judges — did it during the Clinton years — but I lost that fight," McConnell said. "The Senate will filibuster judges. That precedent was established — ironically enough — on a Hispanic-American nominee in Miguel Estrada." Asked to clarify, McConnell confirmed ... (more)