Ed Rollins, in his most recent CNN Commentary, says it perfectly:
"Don't go to war over Sotomayor"
Besides rhyming, this statement sends a clear cut messages to his fellow Republican base to leave President Obama's Supreme Court Justice pick alone. Further more, his argument on why the right needs to stop the slandering, is utterly impeccable. He says of Sotomayor:
"There can be no debate over her qualifications. Her lifetime achievements in the academic world, in the legal world and the judicial world are unchallengeable. If that was the only measure, she would be confirmed unanimously."
And also:
"Sotomayor is not deserving to be on the Supreme Court because she is Puerto Rican or a woman. She has been appointed by the president because she is extremely well-qualified. Judge those qualifications fairly and without malice."
Ed has been around a while. He has been a Republican campaign adviser since the mid-80's, heading the campaign for Reagan/Bush in the 1983 Presidential Election, which they won in a landslide. Recently he headed Mike Huckabee's campaign for his run at the 2008 Presidential Election. Needless to say, Ed is a stout Republican. He is not soft and he is not a middle-leaner. Rather, he is a realist. His suggestion to his fellow right-wingers is this:
"For a political party that lost an election just six months ago by 9½ million votes, the second largest vote margin of defeat ever for a Republican presidential candidate, you would think we would shut our mouths and figure out how to get more votes in the future."
He goes on further to say:
"But instead we have gotten into a raging debate over the purity of the party and who's a better Republican. Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, Tom Ridge, Karl Rove, Rush Limbaugh and even Meghan McCain have had their say along with the new party chairman, Michael Steele."
Ed senses his party going to waste. This is not the confident and powerfully driven party of the 80's. Ed thrived during that period, as did the Republican party. His party's values and morals have changed. The way they portray their message to the people has changed. Fear-mongering, paranoia and rage seem to always be their tone. Ed seems to be fed up with his colleagues and their antics. It seems he can no longer identify himself with his party anymore. The same can be said for the twenty-one Congressmen, Representatives and Senators who have switched from Republican to Democrat since 2007.
What more is to be said when a loyalist like Ed Rollins is pleading for his party to tone it down and let this battle over Sotomayor go? Will his colleagues listen? So far they haven't and for the moment it seems they are not going down without a fight. I'm predicting a first round knockout for Sotomayor.