At his Tuesday announcement of Sotomayor's nomination, President Obama noted that the Bronx native's mom "bought the only set of encyclopedias in the neighborhood" to help educate her daughter. That detail struck Klobuchar, who grew up in middle-class Minneapolis suburb. "I love that part," the first-term senator said this week. "The encyclopedia, that was in a hallowed place in our house."

Like Sotomayor, Klobuchar is also a former local prosecutor, so she said she's looking forward to talking about criminal law and sentencing guidelines with the Supreme Court nominee. "The fact that she's been a prosecutor is very helpful," Klobuchar said. "When you've been in that kind of job, the law to you is not just a dusty book in your mom's basement."

Klobuchar said she prefers to focus on "common sense" questions that reflect her prosecutorial background -- on issues like victim rights, for example. But she said that if Republicans on the committee don't give Sotomayor enough of a chance to defend herself, she's not afraid to step in. "If it gets into a partisan circus, then we're into a different land," she said. As an example, Klobuchar cited a recent appellate court nominee who she thought was not given enough time by a Republican questioner to explain his decisions. Klobuchar used her turn on the dais to give him a chance to clarify his reasoning.

That said, Klobuchar added that she's not just going to play defense; she's got her own questions for the nominee. "How she views executive power -- I think that's going to be a key issue," Klobuchar said.