Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) who has been criticized for what some saw as a dismissive tone in his questioning of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor on Tuesday, actually said some favorable things about her in his questioning this morning.
In an extended line of questioning about the Second Amendment right to bear arms, Graham sought to pin her down on how she would go about deciding whether the right is "fundamental" in the legal sense of whether it should be applied or "incorporated" to the states. Sotomayor did not budge from her general answer that she would heed precedents and "the rule of law." But instead of moving on in a frustrated way, Graham took a more conciliatory tone.
In the end, he said, Sotomayor would probably make that decision based on her own subjective view of America. "I don't know how you're going to come down," Graham said. But based on her record as a judge and on her testimony, Graham went on to say he thinks that "you are able to embrace a right that you may not want yourself. That is my hope for you." An activist judge, Graham said, would be "chomping at the bit" to do the opposite, but he expressed hope, if not confidence, that she would not.
Graham went on to more hostile questioning about her role in the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund and, yet again, about her "wise Latina" comment that keeps coming up. She repeated her mea culpa: "I regret that I have offended some people." As she went on to say that she never intended to say one group has an advantage over another in being able to render wise judgments, Graham interrupted to say with some resignation, "You know what? I agree with you." Graham's questioning was done.
Will he vote for Sotomayor? That's far from certain. But Graham's tone had changed.
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