By Keith Perine, CQ Staff

Senate Judiciary Republicans began Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation hearing Monday by laying the groundwork for a concerted attack on her judicial philosophy.

Republicans couched their criticism of Sotomayor as a pivotal debate over the role of federal judges. They made it clear, however, that for many of them the hearing is going to be at least as much about Sotomayor’s speeches as her 17 years of opinions as a federal judge.

“To be truly qualified, a nominee must understand the proper role of a judge in society,” Charles E. Grassley , R-Iowa said.

But South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham injected some levity into the proceedings, telling Sotomayor, “unless you have a complete meltdown, you’re going to get confirmed.”

Democrats used their opening statements to rebut GOP criticisms, extol Sotomayor’s record, and counter-attack the Republican narrative that Sotomayor might not be impartial on the bench.

Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy , D-Vt., praised Sotomayor’s judicial record and accomplishments. “She’s been a judge for all Americans. She’ll be a justice for all Americans,” he said.

Sotomayor, appointed to the U.S. District Court by President George H.W. Bush and to the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals by President Bill Clinton, “has more federal court judicial experience than any nominee to the United States Supreme Court in nearly a hundred years,” Leahy said.

Russ Feingold , D-Wis., dismissed Republican questions about her impartiality, saying, “At this point, perhaps we should all accept that the best definition of a ‘judicial activist’ is a judge who decides a case in a way you don’t like.”

But Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions , the committee’s ranking Republican, said the judiciary is at a “dangerous crossroads” and hinted he thought Sotomayor might help lead it down the wrong path.

“I will not vote for — and no senator should vote for — an individual nominated by any president who is not fully committed to fairness and impartiality toward every person who appears before them,” Sessions said.

As the committee broke for lunch, the only drama came from anti-abortion spectators who interrupted the proceedings twice during California Democrat Dianne Feinstein ’s statement.

“Senator, what about the unborn,” a man shouted during Feinstein’s statement before being led out of the room by Capitol police. Another anti-abortion protestor interrupted an opening statement by Richard J. Durbin , D-Ill. by yelling, “abortion is murder” before being led out by police.

Sotomayor will deliver her own opening statement when the hearing reconvenes this afternoon.