WATERLOO - The one thing local Republican and Democratic activists can agree on about Sonia Sotomayor's Senate confirmation hearings is a distaste for her vague, evasive responses to probing questions.

Gary Kroeger, an active local Democrat, loves Sotomayor as Supreme Court nominee but could do without her "duck and avoid" tactics.

He said Sotomayor should not back away from a public comment in which she said a wise Latina woman can reach better conclusions than a white man.

"The point is, when you grow up a minority and a woman, without the advantages, when you are facing prejudice, if you can rise above that you will see bias more clearly and make a wiser, better conclusion," he said. "The fact that she's cowering from that, that's what frustrates me."

When members of the Senate Judiciary Committee asked if a person has a right to defend themselves from an intruder in their home, Sotomayor's rambling answer made Chelle Adkins, secretary of Black Hawk County Republicans, wonder about her actual views of gun control.

"While I believe some answers you can't really answer without having an actual case in front of you, there are certain hypotheticals you can answer because it's black and white; it's right or wrong. I really think some of the questions she's getting she's answering appropriately, but the majority she's not being forthright," Adkins said.

Earlier this week, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, who serves on the judiciary committee, called Sotomayor's answer to the gun control question five minutes of "gobbledy-gook."

Yet Grassley praised Sotomayor's ability of avoiding incriminating explanations to some of her most controversial statements, and predicted she will be confirmed without too much trouble.

Some prominent Republican senators have said they will vote for her because her judicial record indicates she leans left politically but will not re-write laws to reflect to her personal opinions.

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said Thursday that he sees "nothing that would keep us from having her on the floor of the Senate before the August break and confirming her as a Supreme Court justice."

The prospect of the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice thrills Samuel Nodarse, a Cuban immigrant and retired University of Northern Iowa modern language professor.

He called Sotomayor an "astounding" pick because of her intellect and qualifications, and because of politics. He said placing her on the bench of the nation's highest court can only help cement Hispanic support for the Democratic party.

"It's a good idea to have a Supreme Court with different ideas. She has a different perspective because of her language and her background," he said. "In New Mexico, Texas, California, New York; there are a lot of Hispanics in the United States."