What Should Have Been Miguel Esrada's Day

The confirmation of Sonia Sotomayor as the country's first Hispanic Supreme Court justice is hailed as a victory for minorities, and helps cement Hispanic's affiliation for the Democratic party. The fact that the Republicans who opposed her nomination did so out of legitimate concerns over her judicial temperament will pale by comparison to a simpler fact: the Democrats got an Hispanic on the Supreme Court.

This day, in all likelihood, should have belonged to Miguel Estrada and the Republicans. Estrade is an Honduran immigrant who was nominated in 2001 by George Bush to be an federal appeals court judge - a stepping stone to the Supreme Court.

Estrada was filibustered by Democrats, who feared Busy would eventually nominate him for the Supreme Court - and thus give Republicans political credit for appointing the first Hispanic justice. Estrada was the first court of appeals nominee ever filibustered in the Senate - showing you the lengths to which the Democrats broke from the traditional norms to oppose his candidacy.

His personal story is one of great success from the humblest of beginnings. He arrived in America as a 17 year old, graduated with honors from Columbia before going to Harvard Law School where he was editor of the Harvard Law Review. His career after law school comprised various roles as Supreme Court clerk, federal prosecutor, and private practice at a leading national law firm.

And in return for his remarkable success, the Democrats destroyed his judicial career because they couldn't stand the thought of a Hispanic becoming a Supreme Court judge under a Republican president.

That story is all but forgotten today.

So the next time you hear the Democrats claiming great affinity for minorities, think again.