SOTOMANIA

Michelle Obama Stumps For Sonia

Lauds Sotomayor in commencement address.

Another player for Team Sotomayor: First lady Michelle Obama. At a high school commencement held at Howard University today, Obama pronounced her allegiance to the hotly debated Supreme Court nominee. Many say Michelle’s support is part of a coordinated White House effort to humanize Sotomayor in the public eye. The endorsement came hours after GOP house speaker Newt Gingrich apologized for his remark that Sotomayor was a racist in similar fashion to Republican talk show host Rush Limbaugh’s comments today that the candidate would bring “racism” and “bigotry” to the court. Sotomayor is “more than ready” for the job, Obama said. Sotomayor, 54, would be the third woman and first Hispanic to serve on the Supreme Court.