Last week, during George Lopez's HBO special Tall, Dark and Chicano, he forcefully warned all of the Republicans who voted against Sonia Sotomayor's appointment to the Supreme Court: "To all of you who voted no, I'd like to take this opportunity to say: You'll never get the Latino vote now. You won't win a pinche pie-eating contest!" This got us thinking about the real-world ramifications of the Sotomayor vote in the upcoming 2010 elections.

Sotomayor's life story defines some of the most important values
Latinos hold close to their hearts: Hard work, dedication and family
values. She came from a tough community and excelled in her academic
studies, eventually earning scholarships to both Princeton and Yale
universities. Her mother worked endless hours to ensure that her
children were given the opportunities she never had. And Sotomayor was
so dedicated to the ideals of the constitution that she worked
ceaselessly to enforce them, eventually rising through the ranks to
become a district judge and finally a Supreme Court Justice.

It has nothing to do with being Republican or Democrat, and it really has nothing to do with race. Whether or not you are Latino, black, white or Asian, there are certain standards we all tend to apply when considering our public officials.

The problem with the Republicans who voted against Sotomayor is that they did not vote based on a factual assessment of her abilities and record. All the petty arguments about her being a "racist" were seen by most as what they were: ridiculous claims. Saying something over and over does not make it true, a fact seemingly lost on most of the Republican senators. Again and again we were subjected to claims of Sotomayor being an activist judge or her record displaying a desire to "change the Constitution." The problem is in the fact that most of the opposition was based on lies and repeated at the risk of ignoring her prolific and—in reality—quite conservative history on the bench.

When the elections come and these Republicans find themselves out of a job, hopefully it won't be because of their no vote on Sotomayor, but rather because 31 of them made the mistake of believing the population they serve is ignorant.

Check out the intro to George's HBO special below (the good stuff starts at around 5:30) and tell us: Would you vote for a senator who voted against Sonia Sotomayor?

Of the 40 Republicans in the Senate, 9 voted for and 31 voted against confirming Sonia Sotomayor. None of the Republicans who voted in favor are running for office again in the upcoming elections. they are:

1. Sen. George Voinovich, Ohio
2. Sen. Susan Collins, Maine
3. Sen. Olympia Snow, Maine
4. Sen. Judd Greg, New
   Hampshire
5. Sen. Richard Lugar, Indiana
6. Sen. Kit Bon, Missouri
7. Sen. Mel Martine, Florida
8. Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina
9. Sen. Lamar Alexander, Tennessee