There is a certain symmetry in a president representing one historic first nominating a Supreme Court justice representing yet another.

Federal Appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor would be the first Hispanic on the high court if she wins Senate confirmation.

She brings to the nomination a solid judicial and legal record that, barring damaging disclosures, should make for a speedy confirmation — should being the operative word here.

There had been talk of the GOP using President Barack Obama's nomination pick to make up ground lost in the past two elections. If this means a reasoned look at Sotomayor's judicial record, that is one thing. If it means shrill denunciation for politics' sake, the party should recognize that such tactics would not bring it out of the wilderness.

A filibuster in the Senate would be hard to explain in any case since seven sitting Republicans supported her confirmation to the appeals bench.

Which is not to say that Sotomayor's record and remarks shouldn't be scrutinized.

Her decision as part of a three-judge panel affirming a lower court ruling that allowed New Haven, Conn., to cancel firefighter promotions because no African-Americans were among the selectees determined by the exam deserves scrutiny. The U.S. Supreme Court is likely to overturn that appeals court decision, which was delivered in an unpublished order.

Also bearing examination is her remark that a Latina "with the richness of her experiences" would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white man who hasn't lived that life.

But a nominee should not be judged on one ruling nor one remark. If, for instance, Sotomayor was saying — badly — that people with different experiences bring different understandings to situations, it is a fairly unremarkable comment. In other remarks, she says she would not "bend" the Constitution.

A president should be given wide leeway to have the nominee he chooses confirmed, a case we made in urging approval of Samuel Alito and John Roberts, nominated by George W. Bush.

It is no different now that it is an Obama presidency and he nominates someone who is likely more closely aligned with his views and those of the nearly 70 million people who elected him.

REPRINTED FROM THE MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL.