Over at The Volokh Conspiracy legal blog, David Kopel points to a National Journal blogger poll showing bloggers confused about this issue. I was surprised that it is even a question.

Lefty bloggers think Republicans should not oppose the Sotomayor appointment. They, naturally, think she’s the best thing for the country since Barack Obama.

Right-leaning bloggers are split, with most thinking it would be counterproductive, or at best unproductive, to oppose her.

Here’s a case where the majority is wrong. We must oppose Sotomayor, because she is a weak addition to the Supreme Court. While in a partisan strategic sense it is quite possible that having an inferior mind installed as the next Justice is a net positive, that may not be what is best for the country.

We must oppose her because it is a chance to state our position. The left loves to play ad hominem tu quoque, pointing out that we didn’t oppose some plan when proposed and are therefore hypocritical for opposing its implementation. We mustn’t give them that chance.

And most importantly, it is a time to educate. We oppose Sotomayor to show what we believe and to highlight what she believes. She believes, not so ironically, that racial justice demands installing less-qualified minority candidates when better-qualified majority candidates are available. She believes that judges should make policy, not merely judge the law. She shows every indication of being a doctrinaire leftist, and there are enough of those leading the Executive Branch that no more are needed in the Judicial.

We should oppose her. If the People are now so shallow that they read racism into that, then they do.

But they won’t.

(Cross-posted at The Minority Report)