Sotomayor Not In Fact A "bush Nominee"

As it turns out, Sonia Sotomayor was not in fact a “Bush nominee.” In an editorial published in the May 21st edition of the Herald Community Newspapers of Long Island, former New York Senator Alfonse D’Amato explained how he and former Democratic Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan collaborated to nominate Sonia Sotomayor for a seat on the federal bench.

During my days in the Senate, the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan and I coordinated efforts to select federal district court judges. Typically, the members of the party that controls the White House suggest all candidates for federal judgeships to the president. However, my partnership with Moynihan was such that we made these decisions together and never excluded the other. For example, when the Democrats controlled the White House, Moynihan would allow me to recommend one of four judges and he would take on the remaining three, and vice versa. This was a very unusual arrangement started that allowed for a bipartisan approach to selecting candidates. It is a shame it isn’t used more today… The nomination of Sonia Sotomayor, a federal district court judge whom Moynihan and I jointly recommended to the first President Bush in 1992, is just one example of our bipartisan agreement. Sotomayor is also being floated as a possible replacement for Souter. Moynihan would be proud.