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Katie Couric's Notebook: Sotomayor

How will a Latina woman from the Bronx interpret the words of a bunch of old white guys called the Founding Fathers?

That's the Cliffs Notes version of the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.

For Democrats like Senator Patrick Leahy, hers is a success story, "for which we all can take pride."

Some Republicans meanwhile are questioning if that pride leads to prejudice. This week several of them will cite this quote: "A wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life and those life experiences."

Was that empathy or was it politics?

Her confirmation is nearly foolproof given the Democrats' control of the Senate, but it will be very interesting to hear how she answers the questions and how the conversation moves from her quintessentially American story to how she'll apply the rule of law for all Americans.

That's a page from my notebook.

I'm Katie Couric, CBS News.

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