5. Sen. Ricky Ricardo. Sen. Tom Coburn evoked a 1950s TV show in a quip responding to Sotomayor's scenario about what he might do if she -- hypothetically, of course -- attacked him. "You'll have a lot of 'splainin' to do," Coburn said, to laughter from the crowd and Sotomayor. What he said -- and how he said it -- was a riff on a Hispanic television character, Ricky Ricardo, whose accent is now widely considered a broad parody. One woman in the audience, Yvette Melendez from Glastonbury, Conn., said: "I personally did not think it was appropriate."
4. Franken made a funny. All eyes were on Minnesota Sen. Al Franken, who was making his question-and-answer debut just a week into office. For the most part, the former "Saturday Night Live" comedian played the role of a serious senator as he lobbed softballs at Sotomayor. But he also challenged Sotomayor to name the case that Perry Mason lost. When she couldn't he quipped: "Didn't the White House prepare you for that?" -- and drew guffaws. He also stole the show when the microphones went out. His worked -- so he switched seats with Chairman Patrick Leahy.
3. The Specter show. Every Democrat seemed to go to great lengths to set up Sotomayor with easy questions -- but one. The turncoat Sen. Arlen Specter, who was a Republican until recently crossing the aisle. Known for his independent streak, Specter seemed to relish pressing Sotomayor on the intricacies of jurisprudence. He plowed through his 30 minutes of time like the prosecutor and former chairman he once was, cutting off Sotomayor when she strayed off topic.
2. Abortion. Protesters wanted to talk about it Monday and Tuesday, but it didn't come up in earnest until today -- when it dominated the discussions. Many -- if not most -- Republicans raised the subject with Sotomayor, and at least two Democrats raised the subject as well. Predictably, as all Supreme Court justices have before, she avoided disclosing her personal feelings and stuck to her script. She did allow that no one in the White House had ever asked her about her personal stance on the hot-button issue.
1. Ducking the hot-button issues. The most striking thing about today's question-and-answer session was how few questions Sotomayor actually was willing to answer. It didn't seem like many at all. But that shouldn't be a surprise. Like other Supreme Court nominees, this one went though weeks of White House preparation to learn how to craftily avoid disclosing anything about how she would rule if confirmed. Our wire story wrapping up the day sums up this point.
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