What to Watch for at Sotomayor's Hearing

Worth Clicking: Blasts from the past wound Romney

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July 13, 2009

What to Watch for at Sotomayor's Hearing

CQ Politics: "Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor will have to perform a rhetorical high-wire exercise during her Senate confirmation hearing, which begins Monday. She will need to show the Judiciary Committee a mastery of constitutional law without being too specific on any particular legal issue. She will have to respond dispassionately to pointed questions, demonstrating a judicial temperament worthy of the high court."

Politico says a "200-plus-page White House playbook distributed to Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats" outlines "a streamlined, no-drama strategy modeled on the flawless performance of Chief Justice John Roberts back in 2005. Roberts bedeviled Democrats by deflecting questions about his judicial philosophy with the law school equivalent of Greenspan-speak, the art of saying virtually nothing in the most expansive language possible."

Said one Democratic aide: "Roberts is our gold standard."

Meanwhile, The Fix has the five senators to watch on the Judiciary Committee during questioning.

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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July 13, 2009