It started just minutes after President Obama chose Sonia Sotomayor as his nominee to the Supreme Court.

As with any high court nomination, interest groups and oppositional lawmakers are gearing up to fight Sotomayor’s confirmation. There’s little doubt Sotomayor will be confirmed, but she could be grilled every which way by the Senate Judiciary Committee and in the press before it’s over. Granted, her American apple pie story — Puerto Rican girl who grew up in a Bronx project with a single mother who worked two jobs and goes on to Princeton and Yale — definitely works to her advantage. While certainly Sotomayor deserves much of the praise and acclaim pouring her way, there’s no lack of criticism, either.

Not surprisingly, some of that is coming from conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, who, despite describing Sotomayor’s biography as a "great story," blasted Obama for picking a “hack" and a "reverse racist." Limbaugh said on his show yesterday:

Here you have a racist — you might want to soften that, and you might want to say a reverse racist. The libs, of course, say that minorities cannot be racists because they don’t have the power to implement their racism. Well, those days are gone, because reverse racists certainly do have the power. … Obama is the greatest living example of a reverse racist, and now he’s appointed one.”

Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney also described Sotomayor’s "expansive view of the role of the judiciary" as "troubling." A common Republican charge is that there are too many "activist" judges on the bench who try to make the law, not just interpret and apply it. And at least one Democrat has said he will be on the lookout for any sign of activism on her part.

It is critically important that she possess the proper judicial termperament and the ability to be fair and impartial," said Sen. Mark Pryor, D-AR. "Activists judges have no place on the highest court of the land."

As it readies its members to pepper Sotomayor with all sorts of questions, the Republican National Committee mistakenly released its talking points against Sotomayor to some in the media — and it includes directions to the GOP, like:

-"Avoid partisanship and knee-jerk judgments — which is in stark contrast to how the Democrats responded to the Judge Roberts and Alito nominations."
-"Republicans do not view this nomination without concern … Sotomayor has also said that policy is made on the U.S. Court of Appeals."
-"Liberal ideology, not legal qualification, is likely to guide the president’s choice of judicial nominees."

Though the Republicans hope to gain some traction with these arguments, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow and Slate columnist Dahlia Lithwick last night discussed the pitfalls — and poor planning — of such arguments. Watch: