While she will likely be appointed as the Reps can't stop it without a filibuster and she is a liberal, replacing a liberal, she and Obama will take some hits.
From the article: But Sotomayor's work as a judge is not without controversy. During a speech at the University of California at Berkeley, Sotomayor said, "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."
Sotomayor also served on a three-judge panel that declined to address the Constitutional issues at stake in Ricci v. DeStefano, a case involving white firefighters who claim they were denied promotions because of "reverse discrimination."
I added the wiki link.
Ricci v. DeStefano - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Makes me think about two things; one if a white male said what Sotomayor said, he'd be crucified in the media and would likely be forced to resign from whatever position he had. Second, if her opinion with the majority at the Court of Appeals is overturned at the SCOTUS, what does that say about her legal-reasoning? This case hitting the SCOTUS couldn't come at a worse time for her if they overturn the decision.
From the article again: And in 2005, when Sotomayor spoke on a Duke University forum, she said, "All of the legal defense funds out there, they're looking for people with court of appeals experience" because "the court of appeals is where policy is made."
Interesting, I didn't think Federal judges made policy, I thought that was Congress' job.