Republicans Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and John Cornyn of Texas (Credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Republicans are zeroing in on Sonia Sotomayor's past speeches, expressing concern that they reveal how a Justice Sotomayor would rule once unrestrained by any higher court.

"We're trying to reconcile the Sonia Sotomayor that we've come to learn about in her speeches and that approach in judging and compare that with what we know about her judicial record," Sen. John Cornyn told reporters during a morning recess today. "And we're left with a lot of questions."

"As a district judge and a Court of Appeals judge, all of her decisions have been reviewed by the Supreme Court," the Texas Republican continued. "Whereas as a member of the Supreme Court she would have no one review her decisions and she would be free to do basically whatever she wants. And if that means she would embrace some of the policies and approaches she has in her speeches, that would be very troubling indeed."

Cornyn's concerns echo those raised by South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham in his relentless questioning of Sotomayor on Tuesday. While he acknowledged that her 17-year record on the federal bench is impressive and "within the mainstream," he then said -- referring to her address that included the now-famous "wise Latina woman" remark -- that she has "speeches that just blow me away."

"Don't become a speechwriter if this law thing doesn't work out," Graham quipped to the nominee.

Democrats, for their part, are focusing on Sotomayor as a "mainstream judge," as Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., described her to reporters when the hearings recessed for lunch. Legal experts coming from both the right and left have said it's hard to predict how a judge will rule once he or she is on the court, as evidenced by former Justice David Souter's leftward drift after his appointment by President George H.W. Bush. It's just that unpredictability -- coupled with Sotomayor's speeches -- that worries conservatives.

Conservative interest group leaders have been making a similar case for weeks. Wendy Long, general counsel at the Judicial Confirmation Network, said the hearings only make her more worried. In a statement recapping Day Two, Long said that Tuesday's story should be called the "Two Faces of Sonia Sotomayor."

"The first face is the one we know from three decades of her life as a lawyer and judge," Long said. "The second face is like a mask she donned today, and can only be chalked up to a 'confirmation conversion': She is saying things today that are irreconcilable with what she's said for the last 30 years."