No surprise. Sessions hinted this morning in an interview that there’ll be no filibuster and Grassley told C-SPAN flatly that she’ll be confirmed. As I said yesterday, what’s the point of starting a nuclear war that you can’t win? Save the ICBMs for next time, when the other side might be weaker.

Top Senate Republican strategists tell POLITICO that, barring unknown facts about Judge Sonia Sotomayor, the GOP plans no scorched-earth opposition to her confirmation as a Supreme Court justice…

“The sentiment is overwhelming that the Senate should do due diligence but should not make a mountain out of a molehill,” said a top Senate Republican aide. “If there’s no ‘there’ there, we shouldn’t try to create one.”…

GOP officials say they realize the party needs to improve its standing among Hispanic voters in order to have any hope of winning a national election, and they admit that trashing the first Latina nominee to the court could cement stereotypes or further alienate minorities…

Republican officials said they still plan an aggressive investigation of her paper trail, since Supreme Court fights have often taken unpredictable turns…

Radio host Hugh Hewitt was among the leading conservative voices who indicated that no holy war will occur. “I don’t believe in charging up a hill when you’re going to be completely mowed down,” Hewitt said.

It’s worth reading the whole piece, if only for the matter-of-fact acknowledgment of media bias in favor of Democratic nominees near the end. Further to that point, via Greg Hengler, here’s Coulter on GMA fielding dopey questions from Diane Sawyer about whether her heart swelled with pride at the thought of a Latino nominee, a line of inquiry for which AC was well prepared. Note also Carville’s painfully heavy handed attempt to goad her and Rush et al. into freaking out over the Sotomayor pick in order to make life difficult for Senate Republicans with the base. Even a fool like me saw that coming from a mile away.