We'll get a good idea today about whether this administration is ready for prime time as Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor starts paying courtesy visits on Senators.
Sotomayor met with her handlers at the White House yesterday - and one can only assume that they will put the muzzle on her, to prevent any outbreaks of verbal foot in mouth that could cause trouble for her nomination.
One would expect that the Judge will use one of these meetings with a friendly Democrat to say something about several different controversies that have been swirling around her, mainly remarks that said a Latina woman can do a better job as a judge than a White man.
These are very important meetings.
Any kind of a misstep will be seized on by Republicans and the news media, just waiting for something off script.
Senators warmed up for the effort on their return to the Capitol Monday, as both sides readied their version of Nomination Events.
"Justice Sotomayor has a very extensive record, and we have the right to scrutinize it," said Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell.
A few feet away on the Senate floor, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid had just described the Judge as "terrific and tremendous."
Along with chasing Sotomayor through the halls of the Senate office buildings, another interesting part of the day will be sampling opinion from Democrats in more red states, and what they think of the Judge.
Some of those would include Sen. Mark Pryor and Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas; Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska; Sen. Byron Dorgan and Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota and others.
I'm not saying they are ready to break ranks or anything. But those are a few of the Democrats who could feel some heat over Sotomayor.
How she deals with Senators in these face-to-face meetings will go a long way to telling us what's next in this nomination battle.
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