Orrin Hatch: “As far as Mr. Estrada goes, there is an additional factor that is not based on any substantive objection to his…”

“As far as Mr. Estrada goes, there is an additional factor that is not based on any substantive objection to his nomination. I believe that some Senate Democrats do not want the current President, a Republican President, to appoint the first Hispanic as United States Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia Circuit. Let me read from an editorial published by the Dallas Morning News addressing this point. On February 17, 2003, the News wrote: Democrats haven't liked Mr. Estrada from the beginning. Part of that is due to his ideology--which is decidedly not Democratic. But part of it also has to do with the fellow who nominated him. Democrats don't relish giving President Bush one more thing to brag about when he goes into Hispanic neighborhoods during his re-election campaign next year. They are even less interested putting a conservative Republican in line to become the first Hispanic justice on the Supreme Court.”