The title of a recently released ABC Newsarticle is "Sonia Sotomayor Makes the Rounds on Capitol Hill". She has a lot of work to do.

The first sentence of this report is "THOUGH SONIA SOTOMAYOR MADE IT THROUGH HER FIRST WEEK AS PRESIDENT OBAMA'S FIRST SUPREME COURT NOMINEE, today marks the beginning of the next step in the confirmation process. Meeting lawmakers on Capitol Hill" and this will not be a walk in the park. Sotomayor got through THE FIRST WEEK which includes little more than shaking hands and posing for photographs. THIS DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING. She must now convince skeptical senators that she can truly do the job that she is being asked to do.

First, Sotomayor met with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Reid called her "the real deal", adding that "..we could not have anyone (who is) better qualified". In a longer commentary, Reid told Sotomayor that "I THINK THAT YOUR LIFE STORY IS SO COMPELLING and America identifies with the underdog". And you've been an underdog many times in your life" and she has worked her way up the legal ladder/hierarchy to become "top dog". Sotomayor may well have worked her way up the legal ladder, However, she must now prove that she is up to the task. A compelling life story alone won't be enough to get Sotomayor confirmed. This is a purely emotional/personal appeal that may well fall on deaf ears.

When Sotomayor met with Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, here's what Leahy had to say to her: "What she said of course was one's life experience shapes who you are, but ULTIMATELY AND COMPLETELY AND SHE USED THOSE (exact/very) WORDS, ULTIMATELY AND COMPLETELY, AS A JUDGE, you follow the law". This means that judges must leave personal opinions out of arguments in the courtroom unless they are relevant. SOTOMAYOR SHOULD FOLLOW HER OWN ADVICE.

On top of all the stuff that's going on already, according to ABC, "The top Republican on the panel, Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama said he was "very impressed" with Sotomayor during their meeting and assured that SHE WOULD GET A FAIR HEARING", which again is no guarantee that he will vote for her.

"But he indicated that he is reserving judgment on her because he'd like to MORE FULLY EXAMINE HER JUDICIAL RECORD and hold more extensive discussions with her". The key phrase here is undoubtedly "to more fully examine her judicial record" which signifies SKEPTICISM. Let's keep in mind that at least 2 Republican votes are necessary to reach the magic filibuster-proof 60 votes, but Sessions still seems to be opposed to Sotomayor and that's not a good sign.

Furthermore, there are concerns that Sotomayor may be the first "activist judge", implying obvious biases.

On top of this, "...he did comment on voices from the right WHO HAVE ASSAILED SOTOMAYOR FOR HER COMMENTS ON RACE AND LIFE EXPERIENCE". Two of Sotomayor's harshest critics are former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and radio show host Rush Limbaugh. In fact, Limbaugh asked Sotomayor to withdraw from her nomination for the Supreme Court seat left vacant by retiring Justice David Souter and called Sotomayor a racist. Rush,Sotomayor is not a racist. She is only supporting her own people/ethnic group without making degrading comments about any other ethnic group, although she has gone a little too far this time.

There is still more good stuff. According to ABC, "Republicans on the Hill have promised a full debate on Sotomayor's nomination AND TODAY A BLOC OF 140 CONSERVATIVE GROUPS ENCOURAGED REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS (in both the Senate and the HOuse of Representatives) TO DELAY THE NOMINATION pending a full debate on the Senate floor. Additionally, GOP leadership and Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. John Cornyn R-Tex WOULDN'T RULE OUT THE POSSIBILITY OF A FILIBUSTER". Appearing on "This Week With George Stephanopoulos", Cornyn would only say "...it's too early to say that or to speculate". Filibusters haven't been widely used since African Americans were fighting for their civil rights in the 1960s, when Republicans, most of whom were white at the time, tried to prevent black Americans from getting their civil rights. However, as Republicans are now the minority party on Capitol Hill, perhaps filibustering is their only way to gain exposure until the 2010 mid-term elections at the earliest.

According to Ed Gillespie, who helped Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito get through their confirmation hearings successfully, "The nominee will, as is custom and tradition, GO DARK ESSENTIALLY OTHER THAN MEETINGS ONE-ON-ONE WITH THE SENATORS. And as for the nominee, SOMETIMES, they like to be out responding to some of these stories, rumors, charges (and) allegations, BUT THAT'S NOT REALLY IN THE NOMINEE'S INTEREST". Why is Gillespie saying this? The reason is exactly the same as to why witnesses are not allowed to read the newspaper, watch the news or go online before or during the trial for which they have been called to testify. Being exposed to media inevitably creates biases.

According to a Democratic Party official, who was not identified for obvious reasons, Cue Stephanie Cutter, a former aide to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, 'gets it'. Specifically, this official said "Stephanie knows the Senate and she knows the leading Democratic senators. BUT SHE ALSO HAS A REAL INSTITUTIONAL SENSE OF THE SENATE AND THE GIVE AND TAKE THAT GOES ON BETWEEN THE SIDES. She has a good bull**** detector on what is political posturing for posturing's sake".

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said that Sotomayor will be guided through (is he serious?) the confirmation process by New York Sen. Charles Schumer, "somebody who has obviously been around a lot of Senate confirmations" in a Congressional career spanning more than 28 years. However, again,this is no guarantee that Schumer will vote for her, although the vote on Sotomayor will likely be split along party lines again, just like the votes on all the proposals that President Obama has sent to Capitol Hill in his brief tenure.

Gillespie continued: "Mostly these meetings are really as much or more about LISTENING TO THE SENATORS than necessarily sharing all your inner most thoughts. JUDGES AREN'T ACCUSTOMED TO BEING JUDGED and that's the situation in which they find themselves, JUDGE SOTOMAYOR FINDS HERSELF RIGHT NOW". "Judges aren't accustomed to being judged". We should have seen that one coming. It's obvious that Judge Sotomayor is chatty and likes to talk but if she wants to move up a notch/level she must improve her LISTENING skills and not get carried away with irrelevant chatter.

Here's another key statistic. According to ABC, "So far, 27 Republican senators have issued public statements on Sotomayor's nomination AND NOT ONE HAS LAUNCHED AN ATTACK". We have to wonder: since she has talked about her Hispanic heritage/upbringing/culture so much, IS SHE GETTING SPECIAL TREATMENT BECAUSE OF IT?

Kansas Republican Sen. Pat Roberts is the only senator thus far who has said publicly that he will oppose Sotomayor. Specifically, he said to a Kansas radio station that "I voted no in 1998. I DID NOT FEEL (that) SHE WAS APPROPRIATE ON THE APPEALS COURT. Since that time she has made statements on the role of the appeals court I THINK IS IMPROPER AND INCORRECT". The critical part of Roberts' statement is "I did not feel (that) she was appropriate on the Appeals Court" which is a legitimate objection, not based on emotion.

According to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, "Senate Republicans will treat Judge Sotomayor FAIRLY. BUT WE WILL THOROUGHLY EXAMINE HER RECORD to ensure she understands that THE ROLE OF A JURIST IN OUR DEMOCRACY IS TO APPLY THE LAW EVENHANDEDLY DESPITE THEIR OWN FEELINGS OR PERSONAL OR POLITICAL PREFERENCES". A "fair" confirmation hearing in no way guarantees confirmation. Also, the words "thoroughly examine" are still significant because what Sotomayor does and accomplishes will be a reflection of President Obama's effectiveness. A COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF WILL ONLY PERFORM WELL IF HIS POLICIES ARE CLEAR, CONCISE AND EFFECTIVELY IMPLEMENTED.

Finally, according to White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, "I think the president believes (that) there is ample time to get a fair and honest hearing. HE UNDERSTANDS the important role the Senate plays to ADVISE AND CONSENT, ESPECIALLY (in) SOMETHING AS IMPORTANT AS A SUPREME COURT NOMINATION". Let's rephrase this statement. The Senate's role is "to advise and consent". President Obama is a Democrat and Democrats are in control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives. HOWEVER, THE DEMOCRATS DO NOT HAVE A FILIBUSTER-PROOF 60-SEAT MAJORITY IN THE SENATE WHICH MEANS THAT THE PRESIDENT WILL NOT HAVE A FREE RIDE AS FAR AS HIS PROPOSALS ARE CONCERNED.

President Obama is still facing a gusty headwind as far as his political appointees are concerned. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary seem to be the only principal officials who are effective right now. Secretary for Health & Human Services nominee Tom Daschle, Budget Director nominee Nancy Killifer and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner all had tax issues. Commerce Secretary nominee Bill Richardson was allegedly involved in "pay-to-play" and another Commerce Secretary nominee, Judd Gregg, withdrew because of clear ideological differences (the president actually said "Judd and I may not agree on every issue, most notably on WHO SHOULD HAVE WON THE ELECTION"; Mr. President, this is a clear ideological difference/conflict of interest between you and the Republican New Hampshire senator so what led you to nominate him for a key cabinet post when you knew that you couldn't work with him effectively? HE SUPPORTED YOUR OPPONENT, JOHN MCCAIN, SOMEONE YOU LASHED OUT AT REPEATEDLY SINCE THE GENERAL ELECTION BEGAN?) Now with Supreme Court nominee Sotomayor, we may have another first: someone who is UNQUALIFIED to serve in a higher government post BECAUSE OF OBVIOUS BIASES. Mr. Obama is certainly giving writers bloggers and pundits plenty to talk about by making confounding decisions, some of which could be even classified as DUBIOUS, which is not a nice thing to say about someone, but unfortunately, it's true. He must keep in mind that everything his nominees do reflects on him and every nomination he makes or even announces will have repercussions. Right now, the only thing that Sonia Sotomayor has going for her is the "compelling life story". EVERYTHING ELSE SEEMS TO BE DUBIOUS.