Coleman looks forward to evaluating Sotomayor ‘when’ he’s elected

Not to be outdone, former Sen. Norm Coleman sent out a confident-sounding statement of his own on the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the United States Supreme Court. Just as Democratic Party rival Al Franken said he looks “forward to joining my colleagues as we examine Judge Sotomayor’s qualifications,” Coleman assumed an air of inevitability, stating that “when” he’s re-elected, he’ll apply the same standard for a “Democrat” nominee as he would’ve under a Republican president. Meanwhile, Minnesota’s only senator, Amy Klobuchar, released a statement saying she’s “very positive about [Sotomayor's] nomination.”

Coleman’s statement:

“When debating judges, I was firm that I would use the same standard to evaluate judges under a Democrat President as I would a Republican President. Are they intellectually competent, do they have a record of integrity, and most importantly, are they committed to following the Constitution rather than creating new law and policy. When I am re-elected, I intend to review Judge Sotomayor’s record using this process. Certainly, the nomination of a Hispanic woman to the nation’s highest court is something all American’s should applaud.”

Klobuchar’s statement:

“As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I look forward to reviewing Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination.   I have always believed that a Supreme Court Justice should demonstrate an independent breadth of mind and character, with an open-minded, fair approach to the facts and the law.  The Supreme Court is the final arbiter of our laws, and it is essential that we have a Supreme Court Justice who will command the trust of the American people.

“I am impressed that Judge Sotomayor is someone who knows the Constitution and the law, but who also knows America.  Her father died when she was a child and she grew up in humble circumstances. Her mother struggled to pay for a set of encyclopedias because she wanted to provide her children with every opportunity to learn.

“Judge Sotomayor would bring to the Supreme Court a unique combination of legal experience as a prosecutor, a private lawyer, a trial judge and an appellate judge.  As a federal judge, she also ended the baseball strike in 1995.  Anybody who brought baseball back to America deserves our warm consideration.

“Along with my Senate colleagues, I look forward to meeting with her and asking about her background and her views.  I intend to review her nomination before I make a final decision.  But, at this point, I’m very positive about her nomination.”