But then Kyl, a lawyer, read aloud several passages from a speech Sotomayor delivered at Seton Hall University in 2003. " 'To judge is an exercise of power,' and . . . 'There is no objective stance. . . . No neutrality. No escape from choice,' " Kyl quoted Sotomayor as saying.
Sotomayor's response was plain. "I have a record for 17 years, decision after decision, decision after decision," she said. "It is very clear that I don't base my judgments on my personal experiences or my feelings or my biases. All of my decisions show my respect for the rule of law."
Sotomayor also kept her cool as one of her sharpest critics, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), pressed her on the statement she made to a group of students at Duke University that appellate court judges make policy.
It's "the job of Congress to decide what policy should be for society," Sotomayor said. ". . . I was focusing on what district court judges do and what circuit court judges do."
"If my speech is heard outside the minute and a half that YouTube presents . . . it is very clear that I was talking about the policy ramifications of precedent."
Sessions was not buying it. "Judge . . . I don't think it's that clear," he said.
Sotomayor's performance as a witness has resembled that of Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. in 2006. Both have long records as appellate judges, and when pressed they could patiently explain the bases for their past rulings without voicing broad views on the law.
Where Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. dazzled the Judiciary Committee in 2005 with his deft command of the law, Alito succeeded, and now Sotomayor appears to be as well, by proving they are smart, careful and capable, if not flashy.
Like Alito, Sotomayor has the advantage of a partisan majority in her favor, meaning that she can win confirmation without winning over opposition lawmakers.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) gave Sotomayor high marks for her judicial manner. "If there's a test for judicial temperament, you pass it with an A-plus-plus," she said.
But conservatives said Sotomayor had failed to answer her critics.
"She was really backpedaling as fast as she could on a lot of what she said in her speech, particularly the themes in her 'wise Latina' speech. This is a classic confirmation conversion," said Roger Clegg, a former Reagan administration lawyer and president of the Center for Equal Opportunity.
