Barack Obama’s first Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor, has been called an “affirmative action” nominee and labeled a reverse racist by prominent Republicans. As Sotomayor’s confirmation hearings start, Dahlia Lithwick, Senior Editor and Legal Correspondent for Slate.com, gave The Nation a breakdown on her expectations for likely lines of attack from Republicans and what we might be able to expect from Sotomayor once she joins the Court. A moderate liberal on the bench, Sotomayor will nevertheless be attacked on the grounds that she cannot be fair to white men, but can the GOP go that route without alienating more voters?

—Sarah Jaffe

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