• Sonia Sotomayor "has endured weeks of insults, obnoxious questions and unwelcome drilling into her work as a judge and a lawyer -- and it was all on purpose, essentially a dress rehearsal for her confirmation hearings," AP reports.

• "In a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released" today, "47 percent of people questioned would like to see the Senate vote in favor of Sotomayor's confirmation, with 40 percent opposed and 13 percent unsure," CNN reports.

• "More than 1,200 pages of Clinton-era White House communications about" Sotomayor "were withheld from public release by the former president's adviser, a National Archives spokeswoman said," the Wall Street Journal reports.

• The New York Times reports that "National Archives officials determined that the hundreds of pages of other documents were exempt from release under the Freedom of Information Act because the material relates to appointments to federal office and internal decision-making processes."

• "Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee are becoming increasingly concerned about Sotomayor's positions on gun rights," the Washington Examiner reports.

• "As conservative interest groups zero in on" Sotomayor's "stances on lightning rod social issues, Senate Republicans are pursuing a separate line of attack pegged to a less polarizing issue: campaign finance regulation," Politico reports.

• "Efforts to rivet the attention of the Hispanic community on" Sotomayor's confirmation hearings "could complicate Republicans' political ambitions for next year," USA Today reports.

• "Liberal women's groups may not be out in front pushing for" Sotomayor's "confirmation, but according to Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., 'they're all for her,'" NationalJournal.com reports.

• New York City "shaped" Sotomayor, "from a childhood apartment near the elevated tracks in the Bronx to her two-bedroom condominium in Greenwich Village, from which she often walks to the towering federal courthouse near the Brooklyn Bridge," the New York Times reports.

• "Sotomayor carries a small black travel pouch, not much larger than a wallet. It contains the implements she needs -- a blood sugar testing kit, a needle and insulin -- to manage diabetes, a disease she has had for 46 years. Friends say she is not shy about using it," the Times also reports.

Commentary

• "The only real mysteries going into Monday's confirmation kabuki dance are how well Sotomayor holds her famous temper in check, how windy the Senator's opening statements will be, and how many Republicans will vote for her in the end," Andrew Cohen asserts. "The rest will be merely for show, a tradition handed down to us over the past few decades -- ever since the Senate and the White House conspired to allow television networks to cover these events live."

• In the Wall Street Journal, lawyer Floyd Abrams, who has argued in front of Sotomayor, describes her questions as "tough and fair, demanding and acute."

• "After conquering Princeton," Sotomayor "is unlikely to be fazed by another institution legendary for its white alpha males -- the Supreme Court," Peter Winn, Sotomayor's undergrad mentor, predicts in the Washington Post.

• In USA Today, University of New Mexico law professor Laura E. Gómez backs up Sotomayor's "product of affirmative action" comment by saying she has described herself that way "many times over the years."

• "In contrast to the messy complexity of just about everything else" on President Obama's plate, "the self-described 'wise Latina' appeals court judge appears to be on a smooth path to confirmation after a run-up notable for its lack of fiery passion and big bucks," Politics Daily columnist Jill Lawrence remarks.

• "Supreme Court confirmation hearings are appointment viewing in Washington. (One needs only to think back to Robert Bork or Anita Hill to know why.) But, with Sotomayor a near-lock for confirmation," Chris Cillizza suggests you "keep an eye on how both parties handle the issues pushed out of spotlight for the next week or so."