So my political wet dreams are coming true.  The Republicans are pushing very hard to make a case against Sonia Sotomayor and trying desperately at the same time to court their old reliable base: Angry white men.

Hey, Angry White Men delivered them an enormous backlash against Bill Clinton in 1994 and then delivered again in 2004 to keep John Kerry from the White House (hi Swift Boats!).  Those White Men as a voting bloc were angry for different reasons at different times, but activated they were. And, hating on the gays or on welfare, they delivered for the Republican party.

Fast forward to 2009.  Wouldn't it be awesome if the Republican party could just get a toe hold again and begin their steep climb back into power?  What could be that defining, mobilizing issue that will turn the tide for the Republican party?  Will Tea Parties resonate with their old reliable base? "Grr!  I hate taxation without representation!  Oh wait, we have representation?  Well then I just hate taxation!  Boo Obama!"

Oops.  That idea fizzled quickly, didn't it?

And then along comes Sonia Sontomayor's quote on wise Latinas.  Aha!  Reverse racism!  That should do the trick!   The Republicans have finally found their mobilizing issue for angry white men again.  They hate quotas and affirmative action—particularly in depressed economic times.  Sonia = racist!  She's intellectually weak and a bully to boot!  Boo to the Latina!  Boo to her!  Surely this plan will work and the Republicans will be back in the White House in 2012.

The Republican party and their talking heads and their double chins began the attack in earnest last week and it's reaching a fever pitch this weekend. Their hopes:  Create a new anti-Obama backlash more effective then their out-of-date Tea Party strategy.  Problem:  This backlash will come with it's own backlash.  It's called the coveted Latino Voter.  Obama received 66% of the Latino vote, a surge of 13 points since John Kerry in 2004.  Although Hispanic voters make up 9% of the voting population, they are hugely influential in new presidential battleground states of New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada and that old presidential battleground of Florida (which, deliciously, has it's own Latinos vs Republicans problem given the entire Republican party is backing Charlie Crist for Senate against the very popular Cuban, Marco Rubio).  See them trending bluer in coming years if the Republican party keeps up their Sontomayor attack.

After you chased every other demographic out of you party (Blacks, Gays, Moderate Republicans, Lily Ledbetter Women), you're just the party of the Angry White Man.  And there just ain't enough of them to win elections.  The stoking of Angry White Male sensibilities is a dying strategy.  And we Democrats better hope they keep clinging to it.