The Selling of Sotomayor: She's Just Like Us

Let's face it, a lot of the senators who are going to be voting on Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court aren't exactly model material. Maybe the photo Lynn has posted is an appeal to their fashion-backward sense, not to mention their love of the national pastime.

Those kids with Sotomayor are her twin nephews, so that is definitely a statement of family values.

When I saw this photo, it reminded me of another recent shot released by the White House. In this one, President Obama was bending over so a little boy could touch the top of his head. The caption said the child, who is black, wanted to know if the president's hair felt like his own.

It also reminded me of a news conference last fall when Obama, discussing his future pet, said most shelter dogs are "mutts like me." You can't get much more down-to-earth than that self-description by a half-white, half-black president.

This is a president who goes to burger joints, soccer games and teacher conferences, and says he wants a justice who understands real people and their real lives. The picture released by the White House screams "real person."

We know Sotomayor went to Ivy League schools and has been part of the nation's legal elite for decades. Hardly any of us have those credentials, but we all have sweaty, imperfect, awkwardly posed family photos in our albums.