OPINION: Graham bucks past politics to be freethinker on Sotomayor vote

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., took a beating on conservative talk radio this week after voting to approve Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the U.S. Supreme Court.
Graham was the only Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee to join Democrats in sending Sotomayor’s nomination to the full Senate, where she’ll be confirmed as the first Latina on the Supreme Court next week.
The consequences of Graham’s decision were clear. He knew he would take heat from members of the GOP and right-wing opponents who opposed Sotomayor for her liberal background. In the end, Graham ignored off-base arguments about judicial philosophy and her views and made his own choice.
Sotomayor was left of center in her political leanings, and that was troubling, but not enough to derail her historic nomination.
We appreciate Graham’s independence on the issue — unlike the crew on talk radio, who want Republicans to tow the party line or take a hike.
Right-wing radio talk show host Mark Levin said Graham’s support shows he’s “unreliable ... as a thinker and a leader.”
To the contrary, it shows Graham’s intellectual power and statesmanship. Sotomayor wasn’t the nominee Graham would have preferred. But careful review of her 17-year record showed she was qualified. And since President Obama won the election, he deserves some latitude in picking a justice.
“This is the first Latina woman in the history of the United States to be selected for the supreme court,” Graham said. “Now that is a big deal. I would not have chosen her, but I understand why President Obama did.”
Republicans tried to overplay Sotomayor’s statement that “a wise Latina woman” might decide cases better than a white man. The remark was out of step with the rest of her career. In recognizing that, Graham said, prudently, “I do not want to set a standard here that people who are aspiring to be a judge will never have a thought, never take on an unpopular cause.”
Graham remembered the brutal confirmation hearings for some Republican Supreme Court nominees. The process has turned extremely political, just like the other two branches of government.
GOP leaders complained Democrats would not focus on the fine credentials of former President George W. Bush’s nominees, John Roberts and Samuel Alito, then turned around and employed the same tactics when it was their turn to block a potential nominee.
Interestingly, Graham rose above politics in a situation where Obama couldn’t. When he was an Illinois senator, Obama voted to block Roberts’ selection, even though Roberts was very qualified and became chief justice of the court.
Graham was the senator who reminded Democrats during the Alito hearings that “elections matter.” His words weren’t lost Tuesday when he voted for Sotomayor.
“I didn’t feel good about the election, but we lost,” Graham said. “What I’m trying to do with my vote is to recognize that (during the arguments over Alito and Roberts), we came perilously close to damaging an institution, the judiciary, that has held this country together in difficult times.”
Graham’s vote for Sotomayor is a watershed moment. As Sotomayor prepares to make history on the court, Graham is bucking politics of the past by being a freethinker.

— Unsigned editorials represent the views of this newspaper. Editorial Board members are Mark Laskowski (regional publisher), James Bennett (regional editor), Sam Bundy (sports editor), Kimberly Ginfrida (news editor), David Johnson (regional circulation director), Charles Tomlinson (Lake City News & Post editor) and Jackie Torok (metro editor).