Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, said he didn't foresee a filibuster, essentially the only way Republicans could try to stop Sotomayor since Democrats control the Senate.
Still, he made it clear that Republicans were ready to raise pointed questions about whether Sotomayor, the first Hispanic nominee to the high court, would let her personal life affect her legal opinions and whether that is appropriate for a Supreme Court justice.
"We have an absolute constitutional duty to make sure that any nominee, no matter what their background and what kind of life story they have, that we examine that so the American people can know that the person we give a lifetime appointment to . . . will be faithful to the law and not allow their personal views to influence decision-making," Sessions said in an interview on NBC's Today.
Organizations that have been preparing for a major confirmation battle - and that depend on such fights to raise money, motivate supporters and galvanize enthusiasm for their agendas - made it clear they don't intend to sit out the debate, filibuster or no. The debate over Sotomayor could also lay the groundwork for fights over other high court nominations the president might make.
Conservative groups kicked off a broad effort to persuade the public that Sotomayor, now a federal appeals judge, is an activist who would impose personal views and ethnic and gender biases on her interpretation of the law and the Constitution.
"Equal justice under law - or under attack?" a Web ad by the Judicial Confirmation Network asks. "America deserves better" than Sotomayor, it concludes.
The White House and liberal groups are hitting back with their own campaign to introduce Sotomayor to the public as an experienced and fair judge whose background gives her a better understanding of how the court affects real people and their lives.
"Principled. Fair-minded. Independent," asserts a TV spot to be aired by the Center for Constitutional Values.
The dueling messages sketched the battle lines for what promise to be closely watched Senate hearings on Sotomayor's nomination, with heavy political consequences for both parties.
The judge's Capitol Hill debut could come as early as next week, when top aides said she could begin making personal "courtesy calls" to Senate leaders and members of the Judiciary Committee.
In private, Sotomayor, 54 - a veteran of the federal bench who was reared in a Bronx housing project and attended Princeton and Yale en route to the highest echelons of the legal profession - has phoned key senators as she begins preparing to face them in the high-stakes hearings.
Since Obama announced her nomination Tuesday, she has spoken with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) and GOP Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, as well as Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D., Vt.), the Judiciary chairman, and Sessions.
Meanwhile, the White House kept up the campaign that was set in motion with the announcement of her selection. They arranged a conference call for reporters with six legal experts and attorneys who are Sotomayor boosters to rebut charges that she would bring a personal agenda to the court or strive to use rulings to make policy.
"Judge Sotomayor is not the kind of judge who thinks it is her job to fix every social ill in the world," said Kevin Russell, a lawyer who has argued before her.
But conservatives expressed concerns over some of Soto mayor's statements in the past. Of particular concern is a 2001 speech she made at the University of California at Berkeley Law School in which she said that, "Our experiences as women and people of color affect our decisions." She added, "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."
At the White House, spokesman Robert Gibbs labored to answer questions about that statement, ultimately resorting to admonishing reporters not to pluck one remark out of a larger speech and an extensive record of rulings and writings.
"We can all move past YouTube snippets and half-sentences and actually look at the honest-to-God record," Gibbs said. "I think she's talking about the unique experiences that she has."
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, in a blog posting, said the comment suggested that Sotomayor was a "Latina woman racist" whose nomination should be withdrawn.
Gibbs retorted: "I think it is probably important for anybody involved in this debate to be exceedingly careful with the way in which they've decided to describe different aspects of this impending confirmation."
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