Mitch McConnell wants right wingers to keep up attacks on Sotomayor

The New York Times profiles Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) and the supposedly tough job he has of reining in all those right wing lunatics who have been viciously attacking Sotomayor:

As a member of the Judiciary Committee and the senator responsible for winning Republican Senate races next year, Mr. Cornyn worried that such disparaging attacks on the first Hispanic Supreme Court candidate would not only poison the confirmation hearings, but also undercut his party’s standing with an increasingly important voting bloc.

He quickly challenged the standing of the judge’s critics, like former Speaker Newt Gingrich, noting that they were not Republican officeholders and held no real responsibility for passing judgment on President Obama’s choice for the court.

“We are going to treat this nominee with the respect that she is entitled to,” Mr. Cornyn said in an interview this week.

But, that's all B.S. And, the New York Times fell for it.

We find out what's really going on via The Hill. In fact, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's office is urging the right wing groups to keep up the attacks:

In public, Senate Republicans have kept their distance from conservative attacks on Sonia Sotomayor — but behind the scenes, they have encouraged activists to keep their crosshairs trained on the Supreme Court nominee.

Lanier Swann, an aide to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), told a private meeting of conservative activists Wednesday to keep up their pressure on Sotomayor.

“Swann told us she wanted to encourage all of us in our talking points and that we’re having traction among Republicans and unnerving Democrats,” said an attendee of Wednesday’s weekly meeting hosted by Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform.

“The point was we should keep it up,” said the source. “She told us at this meeting to put our foot on the pedal.”

So, Cornyn goes out to sympathetic reporters and paints a picture of a Republican Senate caucus trying to rein in the crazies. Meanwhile, the Republican Senate leader is trying to rile them up.

GOP Senators really are beholden to their right-wing, extremist base.