**President Obama
*AP: "The GOP faces an uphill battle in defeating the New York-born daughter of Puerto Rican parents, but Republicans are promising a thorough and perhaps lengthy hearing process that scrutinizes her record and judicial philosophy."

*Over at RCP Blog, there's a long roundup of mostly positive editorials about the Sotomayor pick.

*A New York Times analysis of Sotomayor's rulings is less than overwhelming. She "has issued no major decisions concerning abortion, the death penalty, gay rights or national security. In cases involving criminal defendants, employment discrimination and free speech, her rulings are more liberal than not. But they reveal no larger vision, seldom appeal to history and consistently avoid quotable language."

*It's probably no coincidence that some of the top aides who accompany the president, usually press secretary Robert Gibbs and sometimes David Axelrod, have stayed behind in DC to focus on the Supreme Court spin. The first 48 hours is critical with any nomination, and Axelrod in particular has been all over TV.

*Michael Steele told CNN radio: "You want to be careful" on Sotomayor. "You don't want to be perceived as a bully." He called her an "interesting pick" with "overwhelming political overtones to it."

*But CNN reports that the Columbus Police Department may have to layoff some of its force. Obama had said in February that the Recovery Act would allow the city to keep these jobs. "The White House said the $1.2 million grant only guaranteed their jobs until the end of the year. And facing a growing deficit and a fight to pass an income tax hike, Columbus Police Tuesday announced massive budget cuts that could mean hundreds of layoffs."

**In the Parties
*L.A. Times: "Rush Limbaugh called her a "reverse racist." The conservative Judicial Confirmation Network said she carried a "personal political agenda" and should be blocked from the Supreme Court. But beyond such heated criticism, commonplace in partisan court battles, the nomination Tuesday of Sonia Sotomayor to the high court brought a surprisingly muted response from the Republican senators who will actually vote on it."

*"An all-out assault on Sotomayor by Republicans could alienate both Latino and women voters, deepening the GOP's problems after consecutive electoral setbacks. But sidestepping a court battle could be deflating to the party's base and hurt efforts to rally conservatives going forward," Washington Post reports.

*"Still many liberal organizers said they weren't too worried either. In addition to the sizable Democratic Senate majority, several predicted that Republican senators would tread lightly around the first Hispanic nominee, just as Democrat felt hesitant at the nomination of Justice Clarence Thomas, an African American conservative," NY Times reports.

*The RNC fumbled its talking points on Sotomayor, The Hill reports.

**In the States
*"President Barack Obama told a Las Vegas audience Tuesday night that if they like what he's been doing in office, they have Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., partly to thank. At a sold-out fundraiser that was also a concert extravaganza, Obama was back in campaign mode as he had been in Nevada so many times before the election," Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.

*Does Harry Reid want his son, Rory, to run for governor next year, creating a Reid-Reid ticket? Jon Ralston doesn't think so.

*In one of their final debates before next week's Republican gubernatorial primary, Chris Christie and Steve Lonegan "turn[ed] up the heat on one another's flaws," the Star-Ledger reports.

*The California Supreme Court's decision yesterday to uphold Proposition 8 isn't stopping gay marriage advocates from preparing a new initiative, the Sacramento Bee reports.

*Gallup: "Americans' views on same-sex marriage have essentially stayed the same in the past year, with a majority of 57% opposed to granting such marriages legal status and 40% in favor of doing so. Though support for legal same-sex marriage is significantly higher now than when Gallup first asked about it in 1996, in recent years support has appeared to stall, peaking at 46% in 2007."

*An interesting look by L.A. Times columnist Hector Tobar at the CA-32 Democratic primary last week, in which Judy Chu -- a Chinese American -- defeated Gil Cedillo in a district where Latinos outnumber Asian Americans.

*"More than 200 state parks would be closed, college students would no longer receive Cal Grants and millions of Californians would lose health and welfare assistance under the latest proposal by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to deal with the state budget crisis," SF Chronicle reports. Veteran Reagan/California reporter Lou Cannon has more on the California budget problems here.

*Speaker Pelosi is headlining a DCCC fundraiser in Des Moines June 6, the Des Moines Register reports.

**Sports Alert: Are the Orlando Magic really up 3 games to 1 against the Cleveland Cavaliers? Amazing.

--Kyle Trygstad and Mike Memoli