With just one day left on the summer schedule and public unrest threatening to sink the party's health care plan, Senate liberals hoped to leave town on a high note. For them, that meant confirming the President's highly controversial Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor. Despite a spotty record that shows her tendency to legislate from the bench, nine Republicans--including Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Kit Bond (R-Mo.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and George Voinovich (R-Ohio)--helped to put her confirmation over the top in a 68-31vote.While the overall outcome was disappointing, FRC applauds the nearly unprecedented unity displayed by the 31 Republicans who stood united against her confirmation on the grounds that she is a judicial activist. The conservative leadership in the Senate, led by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), is to be commended for their noble effort to protect the Constitution.
