Obama nominates Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court,

Mr. Obama announced the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor Tuesday at the White House. If confirmed, the 54-year-old Sotomayor will be the first Hispanic judge on the nine-member high court.

Obama was looking someone with empathy and a "real life" storyline. He probably got both with his historic pick of Sotomayor.Sotomayor would join Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the court. The first female was Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

Sotomayor was nominated to the second circuit court of appeals by former President Clinton in 1998 and was tapped in 1991 for the federal court by former President George H.W. Bush.

Sotomayor, born June 25, 1954, is a 1976 graduate of Princeton, picking up a law degree from Yale in 1979. Her father died when she was a youngster.

The Democrats have 60 votes, but that does not mean there will not be a confirmation battle. She was already attacked by a conservative group--an hour before Obama's announcement-- as being too liberal.