• "The Senate on Tuesday began the final leg of Supreme Court hopeful Sonia Sotomayor's 10-week confirmation process with Democrats and Republicans laying down rhetorical markers for a two-day floor debate that will do nothing to change the outcome," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• AP has video from Tuesday.

• "The Senate is continuing a history-making debate on Sotomayor, dominated by Republican charges that she would bring bias to the court and assertions from Democrats that she's a mainstream moderate," AP reports.

• "Almost 30 lawmakers are expected to take the floor in coming days to criticize the nominee and perhaps lay down a marker in advance of the next Supreme Court vacancy," the Los Angeles Times reports.

• "Nearly three-quarters of GOP senators have lined up against Sotomayor, including John Ensign of Nevada, who said he would vote against her because of concerns that she would not uphold the rights of gun owners or be impartial in rendering decisions," NPR reports. "Arizona's John McCain, who is also from a state with a large Hispanic population, likewise plans to oppose the 55-year-old jurist."

• Keep tabs on which senators have committed to yes or no votes with NationalJournal.com's Vote Tracker.

• "GOP senators began a two-pronged effort to personally compliment the nominee's background while also citing her rulings as grounds for opposing her, apparently hoping not to offend Latino voters or conservative activists," the Washington Post reports.

• The Wall Street Journal examines the "balancing act" GOP senators are facing with Hispanic voters, focusing on Texas.

• McCain told NationalJournal.com he isn't worried about alienating Hispanic voters and blasts President Obama for politicizing the SCOTUS confirmation process.

• Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, said Tuesday "that her Republican colleagues' pending 'no' votes on" Sotomayor "raise 'a serious concern' about alienating their Hispanic constituencies," NationalJournal.com reports.

• "Sen, James Inhofe, R-Okla., used the word 'racist' to describe" Sotomayor's "speeches in which she suggested a wise woman or wise Latina might make a better decision than a white male judge," CQ Politics reports. "'To me, I consider that racist,' Inhofe said" Tuesday night "during Senate floor debate."

Commentary

• In Politico, Marco Rubio, former speaker of the Florida House of Representatives and current GOP Senate candidate, says he "could not in good conscience support Sotomayor's confirmation and would vote against it if I were in the Senate today. I reached this conclusion on the basis of a fair and thorough analysis."

• At National Review Online, Ed Whelan, president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, takes Pennsylvania GOP Senate candidate Pat Toomey to task for saying he would support Sotomayor if he were a senator today.