Sotomayor says Obama's job offer set her heart racing

[usregimechange]

WASHINGTON — Sonia Sotomayor spent an anxious 12 hours waiting in New York for President Obama's May 25 call offering her a job as the new Supreme Court justice. She then raced to the nation's capital in a downpour for the next day's announcement, getting lost on the way.

When Obama's call came, Justice Sotomayor recounts in a newly released interview with C-Span, "I had my cellphone in my right hand, and I had my left hand over my chest, trying to calm my beating heart, literally. The president got on the phone and said to me, 'Judge, I would like to announce you as my selection to be the next associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.' … I caught my breath and started to cry and said, 'Thank you, Mr. President.'

"He asked me to make him two promises. The first was to remain the person I was, and the second was to stay connected to my community. I said to him that those were two easy promises to make, because those two things I could not change."

The Supreme Court selection process can be a roller coaster for any prospective nominee. In Sotomayor's interview, part of a C-SPAN project that involved interviews with all nine justices, she reveals the sequence that led to her nomination May 26.

http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20090925/sotomayor25_st.art.htm

[UTUSN]

1. K&R #1 for, PLEASE don't "turn" - PLEASE be a Lib justice!1 n/t

[tekisui]

2. Great story.

Obama: Stay who you are.

The man's got class.

[eleny]

3. Her excitement is easy to relate to

And I admire her for how much she obviously appreciates his request.

+5

[Cha]

4. I like hearing behind the

scenes stuff with our new Admin..and she made it through the ensuing fearwing smear campaign from hell to be Obama's first SCOTUS:patriot:

[monmouth]

5. I loved her re-telling the story of how they got lost and had to be

"talked" for the rest of the drive from Virginia. She then got to the hotel and for three hours memorized her speech so she wouldn't have to refer to notes. We're talking 2:30 a.m. and onward... She is some gal...