If those arguments don't pan out, hypocrisy, shrill animosity and racist code words are always good fallbacks. Dahlia Lithwick at Slate muses on how far some will stretch to vilify Sotomayor as an enemy of the state (i.e. someone with an unusual degree of empathy and a moving background story):

Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer was also quick to condemn Sotomayor on Fox News today, warning that her "concern for certain ethnicities overrides justice." And even though Sotomayor has decided only a single abortion case (against the abortion-rights side), Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life, rushed to describe her as "a radical pick" who "believes the role of the court is to set policy which is exactly the philosophy that led to the Supreme Court turning into the National Abortion Control Board."

The case against Sotomayor—to the extent it's being made, is that her life is such a tumultuous blend of personal hardship and deep feeling that she cannot separate the law from her own agenda. In short, she feels too much.

David Corn thinks progressives may be better off letting the right tie itself in knots in a losing battle:

…there will be rightwing advocacy groups exploiting the moment by sending out dire-sounding direct mail and blast emails to raise money off this pick. But all this does not make for a concerted and coordinated opposition the White House has to fret about.... By selecting Sotomayor, Obama is forcing Senate GOPers to choose between attacking a Hispanic appointee (and possibly alienating Hispanic voters) and ticking off social conservatives.

And the left should perhaps start asking tough questions of its own, since Sotomayor's stances on executive power and civil liberties have been largely untested. Marjorie Cohn of the National Lawyer's Guild is hopeful but vigilant:

Although she will likely be called upon to review Obama’s decisions on interrogation policies, preventive detention and the state secrets privilege, Sotomayor’s views on executive power are largely unknown. But with this pick, Obama has missed an opportunity to tap a liberal intellectual giant like William Brennan who will have a major impact on the Court for years to come.

From the looks of it, Sotomayor's nomination may inspire diverse debate, for once, about real constitutional issues, because contrary to expectations she is not ideologically enchained to the left nor the right. In her now-famous speech at Berkeley, she suggested that true impartiality is mere "aspiration." As a jurist, however, she's approached that ideal in ways that might surprise all kinds of people in Washington.

Image: Mark Lennihan/Associated Press