Conservatives Gear Up for Court Fight — Strangely

Ben Smith has the first memo, swishing around in conservative circles. An example, applied to U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor, who is often mentioned as a likely pick to replace Supreme Court Justice David Souter:

Substantial questions also persist regarding Judge Sotomayor’s temperament and disposition to be a Supreme Court justice. Lawyers who have appeared before her have described her as a “bully” who “does not have a very good temperament,” and who “abuses lawyers” with “inappropriate outbursts.”

Pretty convincing! Republicans that I know are pretty annoyed that they might not have any momentum in a SCOTUS fight against a president so liberal that he voted against Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito, but thus far they’ve spent too much time fantasizing about a Sotomayor meltdown or a weird theory that Sen. Arlen Specter’s (D-Pa.) party switch has somehow empowered the 40-member GOP Senate conference to block judicial nominees.