Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., went right up to the brink of saying he will vote for Sonia Sotomayor this morning. He has fired some of the most heated questions of the week at the nominee, but he is also the GOP senator who has come closest to signing on with her.

In a discussion with Sotomayor about Second Amendment rights and how they apply to the states, he said he believes that she will decide cases in a way that are contrary to her personal views.

"You are more acceptable as a judge and not an activist, because an activist would be chomping at the bit to take their view of life and impose it on the rest of us," Graham said. "You're broad-minded enough to understand that America is bigger than the Bronx, bigger than South Carolina."

To be sure, his last 20 minutes continued his tough questioning on what he sees as a discrepancy between Sotomayor's controversial speeches and what he called her "mainstream" 17-year judicial record. Still, he has also struck a continual tone of openness to the nominee's case, something he started on Monday.

In one of the frankest comments on the opening day, Graham remarked: "Now, unless you have a complete meltdown, you're going to get confirmed." He also hearkened back to the presidential election and his strong support of GOP nominee John McCain. He implied that, while he doesn't agree with Sotomayor's speeches, he may be inclined to defer to President Obama: "I don't know how I'm going to vote, but my inclination is that elections matter."