Cordial beginning is followed by political push-and-pull

As nearly three dozen news cameras clicked rapidly, a parade of senators on the Judiciary Committee approached Sotomayor, offering good wishes and good luck. They seemed mindful that history would unfold with the questioning of the first Hispanic ever nominated for the nation’s highest court - and President Obama’s first chance to shape perhaps the country’s most powerful institution.

But less than a half-hour after Sotomayor’s confirmation hearing began, the reverential atmosphere was transformed into an ideological slam dance.

Republicans came out swinging, pummeling Sotomayor over her “troubling’’ remarks about race and the law and suggesting that she would let her personal preferences improperly influence her rulings. Democrats shoved back, declaring Sotomayor an “even-handed’’ jurist with impeccable credentials and an only-in-America life story.

Both sides raised old grievances, including warrantless wiretapping during the Bush administration’s war on terror and Democrats’ filibuster of President Bush’s judicial nominees.

And four times, protesters interrupted the proceedings shouting antiabortion slogans before Capitol police hauled them away. Four were arrested, including 61-year-old Norma McCorvey of Texas, the plaintiff in the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion who has since become an antiabortion activist. “Stop the genocide!’’ one man yelled before officers dragged him from the room. “Stop the murder!’’

Through it all, Sotomayor - seated alone at a table, appearing attentive and impassive through both glowing praise and withering criticism - patiently waited for her turn to speak. When she did, at the close of the hearing’s first day, Sotomayor spoke briefly and deliberately, thanking her teary mother seated behind her and promising to be faithful to the law and to serve the “larger interest of impartial justice.’’

Conventional wisdom has it that Sotomayor will ultimately be confirmed, and that she will not dramatically change the Supreme Court’s ideological balance. But that didn’t stop a relatively small number of advocates - both for and against her - from making themselves heard outside the hearing room.

In one corner, a small collection of protesters held a banner with an unflattering picture of Sotomayor on one side and an aborted fetus on the other, urging senators to block her nomination. Ruby Nicdao 47, wore a black judge’s robe and carried a plastic toy scythe stained with fake blood.

“I’m letting people know that she’s in favor of baby-killing,’’ Nicdaw said.

A few yards away, Lee Llambelis, a New York City prosecutor, wore a blue button with the word “Sonia’’ circled by stars and a sticker reading “Confirm her!’’ as she stood in line waiting for a temporary pass into the hearing room.

“I’m here to support her candidacy’’ and guard against “distorted’’ views of Sotomayor’s record by Republicans who have criticized her, Llambelis said. “When she speaks, she will change those opinions.’’