Sotomayor Puts Personality on Display

Say what you will about Sonia Sotomayor, the woman has a great laugh. Her second day of testimony brought the nominee's personality into clearer focus, writes Ann Gerhart in the Washington Post. In addition to a sense of humor, exemplified in that "big, full-throated laugh," we learned she's a charmer, a "big toucher," and a hand-talker who's not easily rattled. While prone to going on at length about arcane legal points, she sometimes lets her New York out, as when she explained that nunchucks can "bust someone's skull."

During breaks in testimony, Sotomayor made a point to schmooze with senators, usually putting her hand on their shoulders as she did so, notes Gerhart: "It is the disarming move of a confident and mature woman, a wise Latina, if you will, not that anyone should suggest that men and women move through the world and relate to each other differently, of course." (More Sonia Sotomayor stories.)