| Jamie Dupree |
Supreme Court Watch
While the excitement level has waned a bit in recent days, Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor continues to meet quietly with Senators about her nomination, with just over three weeks until the start of her confirmation hearings.
After breaking a bone in her ankle earlier this month, Sotomayor is no longer going to the office of each individual Senator. Instead, she is camped out in one reception room just down the hall from the press galleries on the Senate side of the Capitol.
It means camera crews from the various TV networks get to hang out in the Senate Studio (the press conference room), showing up every 45 minutes or so for a quick photo opportunity with the Judge and the next Senator on the list.
On Wednesday, her schedule was active, as Senators Dodd (D-CT), Alexander (R-TN), Bennett (R-UT), Webb (D-VA), Chambliss (R-GA) and Dorgan (D-ND) made the trek to meet her.
Only a handful of reporters now seem to gather for the photo ops and post meeting Q&A with the specific Senator involved, unlike the media circus that followed the Judge soon after she was nominated by President Obama.
After talking with Neal Boortz on Wednesday, I hustled down the hall to wait for Sen. Chambliss to see what he thought of the Judge.
He emerged with a very positive review of Sotomayor, but would not say whether he was going to be voting for her nomination.
"She's what I had heard, very charming, very intellectual," said Chambliss, who wasn't giving any hints about his vote on the Sotomayor confirmation.
"As I told her when I left, my mind is not made up," said the Republican from Georgia.
One odd part about these kind of meetings is that the Senators try to probe the nominee on legal issues, but they aren't really supposed to ask how someone will vote on a specific matter.
That sometimes makes for a bit of a unfulfilling feeling, as you get to talk about interesting subjects, without really getting a direct answer.
Chambliss said that in part of their conversation, he zeroed in on gun rights and the Second Amendment, which seems like it will be heading back to the Supreme Court soon.
He also discussed the firefighter promotion case from Connecticut that Sotomayor ruled on as an appellate judge, a matter that is before the High Court right now, and could be ruled on as early as today.
Today's Sotomayor meetings include, Sen. Isakson (R-GA), Sanders (I-VT), Coburn (R-OK), Murkowski (R-AK) and Corker (R-TN).
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