If I may offer a tangential observation on this point. No, of course it’s not anti-Hispanic. But one advantage for Obama in picking the most left-leaning Hispanic possible/confirmable is that it actually allows the Democrats to — once again — cast Republicans as anti-Hispanic. If Obama picked a centrist, opposition would have been principled, but pro-forma. By picking Sotomayor, conservatives will no doubt demand full-throated opposition, which plays perfectly to Obama’s purposes (so long as he doesn’t dump Sotomayor for some, any, reason). I don’t think this was the key factor in his decision, but you can be sure the White House will love casting conservative opposition in those terms.