She Said, She Said

"President Obama told NBC News last week that he was sure Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor 'would have restated' her controversial 2001 law review article in which she suggested 'a wise Latina woman' should 'reach a better conclusion than a white male' judge.

"If so, it would involve a lot of restating. It turns out Ms. Sotomayor used the reference in multiple forums between 1994 and 2003. According to her response to questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee, in an October 2003 speech at Seton Hall University she stated, 'I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would, more often than not, reach a better conclusion.' The words are nearly identical to her 2001 remarks at the University of California, Berkeley that she later approved for publication in a law review.

"On numerous other occasions, Judge Sotomayor gave speeches repeating the formulation. Several speeches in Puerto Rico in 1994 and addresses at Yale and the City University of New York also included similar statements.

"The Obama administration insists Ms. Sotomayor is no exponent of identity politics and the judge has been generally getting good reviews in her one-on-one visits with Senators. But Republicans tell me she appears eager to rush through her talking points about her commitment to abide by the rule of law. 'She trips over herself in repeating the same stock phrases she must know Republicans like to hear,' one Senate source told me. 'But she got flustered when asked a specific question about a notable Supreme Court opinion, and had to say she'd get back to us.'

"For his part, Senator John Cornyn of Texas, a member of the Judiciary Committee, told reporters after his private meeting with Ms. Sotomayor that he had new concerns about whether she is wedded to 'identity politics.'"

-- John Fund, Wall Street Journal