Sonia Sotomayor may be the one in the spotlight, but this is also a special moment for Sen. Amy Klobuchar. The Minnesota Democrat, one of two women on the Senate Judiciary Committee, is taking part in her first Supreme Court confirmation hearings, which she calls a "great honor." NationalJournal.com's Amy Harder caught up with Klobuchar for a few minutes after the committee recessed for the day on Monday to get her take on the Republicans' comments so far and what she plans to ask Sotomayor in the coming days. Edited excerpts follow.

NJ: What is your reaction to Day One? Was there anything that struck you?

Klobuchar: How well she did when she spoke. In very succinct words, she not only told her life story but also, most importantly, her view -- her judicial philosophy of applying the law. And I think people have to hear that directly from her because there have been all these attacks that just aren't warranted by her record....

I thought Senator [Charles] Schumer's words about her -- when he choked up talking about her mom and her background -- was also very moving.

NJ: Have you been surprised by some of the issues the Republicans have and have not focused on? They didn't bring up Ricci v. DeStefano as much as one may have thought, considering the attention that case has received.

Klobuchar: They've made some oblique references to it. The one thing that I see that was interesting -- even though they disagreed and were using this as something of a platform for some political issues -- I thought they treated her with dignity and respect, which is important. Secondly, I thought that Sen. [Lindsey] Graham's comments were extremely interesting, because he clearly remains open to supporting her.... Even though he again said that he disagreed with many of her opinions and some of her statements in speeches, he made a point of saying that overall her record wasn't cause-driven and that he was open to supporting her.

NJ. He also focused a good deal on President Obama, and referenced the notion that elections have consequences.

Klobuchar: No one more than him in this country worked to get John McCain elected. But, he said, in the end Obama won, and that goes into his decision in terms of the fact that this is the president's nominee.

NJ: What types of questions are you going to focus on in the coming days?

Klobuchar: I'm going to focus on her record as a prosecutor, some of the cases she handled. Also, some of the opinions that she authored as a judge in that area. She's had a number of cases where she had to make a judgment call about law enforcement -- if a search warrant was messed up and should the evidence still be allowed in -- in which she has showed some real practical and real-world experience, which I think is helpful....

I'm going to talk to her about confrontation clause, sentencing policy, Fourth Amendment, some of her other decisions -- how she separates out sympathy for plaintiffs and the application of the law.

NJ: Why have the White House and Democrats focused so much on her criminal law cases?

Klobuchar: Well, I think she has some broad support from law enforcement, and you want to get that out there.

NJ: Is that common for Supreme Court nominees?

Klobuchar: I don't know, you'd have to look. This is my first one. I'm sure they vary. But I think what's unusual is you have someone who has the actual experience of a prosecutor. There have been some before, but not a majority of them.

NJ: I've heard from some legal experts that it shows she's a pragmatic judge, one who often votes with conservative judges. Some have even described her as a conservative judge when it comes to her rulings in certain criminal law cases.

Klobuchar: Some of those decisions show some vein of that, but I think in the end I would really characterize her as a moderate judge.

NJ: So, this is your first time participating in a Supreme Court hearing as a member of the Judiciary Committee. What's it like?

Klobuchar: First of all, it's a great honor to have this major Supreme Court hearing only a few months after I got on the Judiciary Committee. But it's also -- as being one of only two women on the committee -- a special thing, because she's only the third woman nominee to come before this committee. And so to be able to show that not only do we have a woman Supreme Court nominee but we also have a second woman on the committee, I think that's always good to reflect this country.