Looks like Republican party chairman Michael Steele still thinks Sonia Sotomayor was a poor choice for the U. S. Supreme Court.

Less than an hour after she was confirmed Thursday by a 68-31 Senate vote_all 31 no votes were Republicans_he issued this statement:

“Judge Sotomayor will become the Supreme Court’s first Hispanic justice when the Court convenes in October – a historic milestone in our history, to be sure – but many Americans still are uncertain about her legal views, especially regarding the Second Amendment."

And, he added, "The president nominated Judge Sotomayor because she shared his belief in judicial ‘empathy.’ Many have questioned how such a justice would decide cases that come before the Supreme Court. Now we will find out, and the American people will be able to decide if that is the standard they want in future Supreme Court nominees.”

Ohio Sen. George Voinovich joined eight Republican colleagues Thursday and said he would support Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The vote is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. EDT. The federal appellate judge is expected to win overwhelming confirmation, and would become the first Hispanic on the court.

Voinovich explained Thursday that, "Judge Sotomayor is not the nominee I would have selected if I were president, but making a nomination is not my role here today. My role is to examine her qualifications to determine if she is fit to serve."

He explained that "the factors to be examined in determining whether a Supreme Court nominee is qualified include her education, prior legal and judicial experience, judicial temperament, and commitment to the rule of law. Based on my review of her record, and using these factors, I have determined that Judge Sotomayor meets the criteria to become a Justice on the Supreme Court.”

Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander, the Senate's third-ranking Republican, Thursday said he would break with party leaders and vote to confirm Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"Even though Judge Sotomayor's political and judicial philosophy may be different from mine, especially regarding second amendment rights, I will vote to confirm her because she is well qualified by experience, temperament, character, and intellect to serve as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court," Alexander said in a Senate floor speech.

The Senate GOP Conference Chairman becomes the sixth Republican to back the federal appellate judge, who is expected to win overwhelmingly when the Senate votes, probably late next week. Debate will begin Tuesday.

Alexander said he hoped to help set a tone for the Senate and court.

"Giving broad Senate approval to obviously well-qualified nominees helps to increase the prestige of the Supreme Court and to confirm its impartiality," he explained. "For that reason, until the last few years, Republican and Democratic Senators, after rigorous inquiries into the fitness of nominees, usually have given those well-qualified nominees an overwhelming vote of approval."

He recalled how Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1993, got only three negative votes, and Justice Antonin Scalia,named by President Ronald Reagan, got no negative Democratic votes. But Sotomayor, President Barack Obama's first appointee to the Supreme Court, is expected to get mostly no votes from the GOP.

Nevertheless, said Alexander, "It is my hope that my vote now will not only help to confirm a well-qualified nominee but will help to return the Senate to the practice only recently lost of inquiring diligently into qualifications of a nominee and then accepting that elections have consequences, one of which is to confer upon the President of the United States the constitutional right to nominate Justices of the Supreme Court."

The Senate's top two Republicans, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Jon Kyl of Arizona, have both opposed Sotomayor. Republicans voicing support include Florida's Mel Martinez, Indiana's Richard Lugar, South Carolina's Lindsey Graham and Maine's Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins.

To read Sen. Alexander's floor statement: http://tinyurl.com/ljl43h

Sen. Jeff Sessions, the Senate Judiciary Committee's top Republican, said Monday he will oppose the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"I don't believe that Judge Sotomayor has the deep-rooted convictions necessary to resist the siren call of judicial activism," he said, announcing his decision in a USA Today op-ed piece. "She has evoked its mantra too often.

"As someone who cares about great heritage of law," Sessions said, "I must withhold my consent."

The Alabama senator is the fourth committee Republican to announce his opposition, following Texas Sen. John Cornyn, Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl and Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he would back the federal appellate judge, who is seeking to become the first court's Hispanic.

The committee is scheduled to vote Tuesday, and Sotomayor is expected to win overwhelming approval, since the panel has 12 Democrats.

Sessions conceded that while Sotomayor "will likely be confirmed," he warned that "supports of liberal judicial philosohy might find it a Pyrrhic victory."

While she "renounced the pillars of activist thinking" in her four days of testimony earlier this month, Sessions said, it seemed disingenuous.

"Which Sotomayor will we get?" he asked. he cited three rulings, on private property rights, affirmative action and the right to bear arms, and said the decisions had three things in common:

"Each was contrary to the Constitution," Sessions said. "Each was decided in a brief opinion, short on analysis. And each was consistent with liberal political thought."

Sen. Orrin Hatch, the Utah Republican who backed Sonia Sotomayor's 1998 bid for a federal appellate judgeship and voted to confirm two Bill Clinton Supreme Court nominees, said Friday he would oppose her nomination to the Supreme Court.

Hatch said he made decision "reluctantly and with a heavy heart," but had serious questions about her judicial philosophy.

“I entered into the confirmation process of Judge Sotomayor with the strong desire to vote in favor of her nomination. Her credentials and experience are very impressive and her personal demeanor is pleasantly cordial and friendly," he said.

But Hatch found after reviewing her record and hearing her testimony — he's a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee — he could not back her.

"I wish President Obama had chosen a Hispanic nominee that all Senators could support. I believe it would have done a great deal for our great country," he said. "Although Judge Sotomayor has a compelling life story and dedication to public service, her statements and record were too much at odds with the principles about the judiciary in which I deeply believe."

He explained that Sotomayor’s judicial philosophy was "more important than her stellar resume.

"I have done my best to leave politics aside and stay true to this standard during all 12 Supreme Court confirmations I have participated in. It saddens me to realize that after reviewing her record, I have reluctantly concluded that I cannot vote in favor of her confirmation."

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Tuesday became the fourth Senate Republican to announce her support of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.

“I have decided to vote in favor of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to serve as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court," the moderate GOP senator said.

“In considering judicial nominees, I carefully consider their qualifications, competency, personal integrity, and judicial temperament," she said.

Here's the rest of her statement:

"Judge Sotomayor has impressive legal experience, has excelled throughout her life, and is a tremendously accomplished person. Indeed, the American Bar Association Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary — after an exhaustive review of her professional qualifications, including more than 500 interviews and analyses of her opinions, speeches, and other writings — unanimously rated her “well-qualified.”

"And based on my review of her record, my assessment of her character, and my analysis of her adherence to precedent, Judge Sotomayor warrants confirmation to the high court.

“I know that I will not agree with every decision Justice Sotomayor reaches on the Court, just as I disagree with some of her previous decisions. However, upon reading these decisions, talking personally with her, and hearing her responses to probing questions, I have concluded that Judge Sotomayor understands the proper rule of a judge and is committed to applying the law impartially without bias or favoritism.

“My expectation is that Justice Sotomayor will adhere to Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s admonition that 'a wise old woman and a wise old man would eventually reach the same conclusion in a case.' Based on her responses to the Judiciary Committee, she will avoid the temptation to usurp the legislative authority of the Congress and the executive authority of the President. As Chief Justice John Marshall famously wrote in Marbury v. Madison, the Court must 'say what the law is.' That, after all, is the appropriate role for the federal judiciary. For a judge to do more would undermine the Constitutional foundations of the separate branches."

       So Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., one of the Senate's most outspoken conservatives, wants to be a judge? During the Obama administration?

    The revelation came during a friendly exchange with Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. They were discussing the roles of Congress and the judiciary, and Sotomayor told Coburn Congress' task is "so, so important.

    "But I love that you're doing your job," said Sotomayor, currently a federal appellate judge, "and I lovethat I'm doing my job as a judge. I like mine better,"

    "I think I would like yours better as well," Coburn quipped, "although I doubt that I could ever get to the stage of a confirmation process...it would be entertaining, wouldn't it?"

     Hey, promised committee chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., "If President Obama nominates you, I'll preside over it."

    Coburn laughed. "Well," he said, "that's not likely to happen."

Sonia Sotomayor a fan of Perry Mason, the legendary fictional defense attorney who almost never lost a case?

Makes no sense, said Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn.

"It amazes me," he said after hearing the Supreme Court nomiinee recall watching the TV show while she was growing up, "you wanted to become a prosecutor...because of that show."

Then again, it did have some logic, the Minnesota senator added: "I think that says something about your determination to defy the odds."

Sotomayor was a New York City prosecutor before becoming a federal district and appellate judge.

Franken's concerns were not assauged completely, though. Since she was such a big fan of the show, he asked, did she remember the one case Mason lost?

She could not.

"Didn't the White House prepare you?" he smiled and asked.

Postscript: Within minutes, the White House e-mailed reporters the answer: "The Case of the Deadlly Verdict," 10-17-63..

That’s pretty cool