On Sotomayor

As Dan wrote earlier a quote of mine is running in a thoughtful Dan Balz piece running on the Washington Post's website.  As it was slightly edited from what I sent him, I offer up the original statement: 

The President's naming of Sotomayor is a smart acknowledgement of how the nation is changing.   Driven to a great degree by Hispanic immigration over the past generation, the nation is on track to be a majority minority country by 2042, and is already one third non-white today.  
 
This changing racial and demographic makeup of America is one of the most profound structural transformations happening in our country today.  Democrats have consistently shown a deep understanding of these changes, and working hard to fashion a new politics to accomodate and speak to the new America of the 21st century.  National Republicans, on the other hand, seems to be resisting these inexorable changes in ways that could make them a minority party for a long time to come.  If during the next few weeks the Republicans appear to be playing politics with race rather than raising legitimate issues about Sotomajor's judicial approach it could reinforce the deep impression that the Republican Party's anarchonistic and intolerant approach to race and diversity is making them less capable of leading a very different and more racially diverse America of the early 21st century.  

For more see this recent backgrounder on Sotomayor and race we released a few weeks ago.