Sonia Sotomayor was the stated topic of conversation during a panel discussion today among four major conservative organizations, but the focus remained largely on President Obama.

"This confirmation debate serves as an opportunity that we didn't have in the election. It affords the opportunity to show the American people the consequences of their votes," said Manuel Miranda, chairman of the Third Branch Conference. "When they voted last November for a very charismatic candidate who also happened to be African American, they did not know that they were electing someone who would appoint judges who would rewrite the law."

The discussion, hosted by Judicial Watch, highlighted continuing concerns on the right about Sotomayor: the New Haven firefighters case, the "wise Latina" woman comment, gun rights and the "empathy" standard. But throughout the discussion panelists kept coming back to Obama. In fact, that's how Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton opened up the discussion.

"We have to give points to President Obama for clarity on his judicial philosophy," Fitton said. "Sotomayor is a constantly shifting landscape. She is moment-to-moment on her moods, bias and personal whims. That problem would arise with any Supreme Court nominee of Barack Obama's."

The panelists, who also included Roger Clegg, president and general counsel of the Center for Equal Opportunity, and Curt Levey, executive director of the Committee for Justice, acknowledged what most SCOTUS observers have been saying all along: that Sotomayor is likely to be confirmed. With that in mind, conservatives see this nomination as an opportunity to send Obama a message about his future court appointments: that they will not hesitate to put up a fight over what they see as judicial activism.

"Putting politics aside, this is an important teaching moment," Levey said. "This is the first opportunity to debate the nominee of a Democratic president." He noted that Republicans did not seriously challenge President Clinton's nominees, Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

The discussion turned toward Maloney v. Cuomo, an appellate panel opinion Sotomayor joined, which affirmed a lower court's finding that the 2nd Amendment does not apply to the states. Levey emphasized the importance of targeting red-state Democrats who have large gun-owning constituencies, predicting that this issue would play a significant role in the hearings. (GOP senators also took to the floor Wednesday highlighting their concerns with Sotomayor's stance on gun rights.)

It is up to Republicans to make sure this nomination serves as a referendum on Obama, Miranda said: "It is important that they do everything possible that they can to engage the American people to bring the issues to the table that were not there during the campaign."

Miranda predicted, though, that Republicans would be split down the middle on Sotomayor's confirmation, with 20 voting yes and 20 voting no. "They will not have understood the great opportunity they were given," he lamented.

Miranda's group also publicly urged Senate Republicans today to delay the confirmation vote as long as possible.