Sotomayor seen as 'safe' pick by Obama

WASHINGTON, July 19 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama made a cautious choice by nominating Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the U.S. Supreme Court, observers of the high court say.

Last week's confirmation hearings on Capitol Hill have some liberal judicial advocates expressing disappointment at what they see as a lack of "progressive" legal philosophy on the part of Sotomayor.

"The progressive legal project hit rock bottom (last) week," said Doug Kendall, president of the liberal Constitutional Accountability Center.

Other critics say Obama missed an opportunity to name a more liberal nominee given the solid Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate.

The Washington Post reported Sunday that a popular theory among court observers is that Obama did not want to risk a politically costly confirmation battle so he could conserve resources for his legislative agenda.

At the same time, the newspaper said, some conservatives gave Democratic senators tepid reviews for what they consider a failure to grill aggressively Sotomayor about her views on so-called judicial activism.