Democratic Party leaders in Washington are telling Republican senators to vote for Sonya Sotomayor — or else. The Associated Press reports:

The Senate debate over Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor turned bitter Wednesday, after Democrats warned the GOP it would pay a steep price for opposing the judge who would be the first Hispanic justice, and a top Republican charged they were playing destructive racial politics.

Majority Leader Harry Reid implored Republicans Wednesday to join Democrats in voting to confirm Sotomayor next week, warning that GOP opposition would bring the same sort of public backlash that followed the party’s spirited opposition to measures that would have given some illegal immigrants a chance to gain legal status.

“I just think that their voting against this good woman is going to treat them about the same way that they got treated as a result of their votes on immigration,” said Reid, D-Nev.

My, what a short memory span. As we have discussed previously on this form, does anyone remember names like Estrada and Gonzales? Both Hispanic appointees (in the latter case, an attorney general) in the Bush administration.

Liberal opposition to these and others was never construed as racism, nor were dire political results predicted for voting against them. The only difference between this situation and the current one is a partisan difference, showing once again the Left’s hypocrisy on race.