Confirmation hearings for Prsident Barack Obama's nominee to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter on the bench, federal court Judge Sonia Sotomayor, begin today.  But on the opening day of what most are expecting to be a sure-confirmation, don't expect any hard-hitting questions from Republican Senate Judiciary Committee members just yet.

The first day of confirmation hearings is almost always dominated by posturing.  All nineteen members of the Senate Judiciary Committee will make opening statements prior to a lunch recess.  Committee assignments are allocated among the two based on the party makeup of the Senate at large.  Since Democrats now control exactly 60% of the upper chamber of the bicameral legislature, 12 of the 19 Judiciary Committee seats will be held by Democrats, including:

Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy (VT), Sen. Herb Kohl (WI), Sen. Dianne Feinstein (CA), Sen. Russ Feingold (WI), Sen. Chuck Schumer (NY), Sen. Dick Durbin (IL), Sen. Ben Cardin (MD), Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (RI), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (MN), Sen. Ted Kaufman (DE), Sen. Arlen Specter (PA), Sen. Al Franken (MN).

A couple people to watch from that group: Leahy has been Sotomayor's fiercest defender in the press, so expect nothing less as Sotomayor approached the Republican firing line.  Sen. Schumer will also be extremely complimentary to the woman who described herself as "New Yorican" and the judge he pushed Obama to select early on.  But also keep an eye on Arlen Specter.  The longtime Judiciary Committee member has sat through confirmation hearings for 9 different justices (the entire current bench except for Justice Stevens, plus the now-retired Sandra Day O'Connor), but never as a Democrat.  It will be interesting to see how his questions and judicialy philosophy has changed, if it has at all.  Finally, it will surprise many to see Al Franken on such a plum committee so soon after taking office, especially since he isn't a lawyer (most on Judiciary are).  It will be Franken's first major public appearance.

That leaves seven Republicans:

Ranking Member Jeff Sessions (AL), Sen. Orrin Hatch (UT), Sen. Chuck Grassley (IA), Sen. Jon Kyl (AZ), Sen. Lindsey Graham (SC), Sen. John Cornyn (TX), Sen. Tom Coburn (OK).

Senator Sessions has been perhaps the most vocal of Republican members up to this point, and will probably take the lead on a lot of the questioning.  But while none will be as complimentary of the New York Judge as their conterparts on the other side of the aisle, none will be overtly critical of Sotomayor either.  With Democrats holding a 60-seat supermajority, there will be little Republicans can do to block Sotomayor's eventual confirmation.  Making waves now would essentially be publicizing what is virtually guaranteed to be a losing battle.

But it's likely that no questions will be asked today.  Each of the 19 members will read their opening statements before allowing Sotomayor to do the same.  Democrats will praise everything from her personal background to her judicial experience, while Republicans will spend their time conceding Sotomayor's strong personal history growing up as a Hispanic American woman from a working-class neighborhood in the Bronx, while simply outlining their own judicial philosophies (which will undoubtedly be divergent from the nominees).

Sotomayor's statement will come after lunch.  Questioning will begin in earnest tomorrow.