Charles Dunn of Regent University's School of Government says he expects Judge Sonya Sotomayor's confirmation hearings to be relatively calm compared to others in the past, because Republicans just "cannot afford to play hardball."

"We have to consider the storyline of Judge Sotomayor.  She has an excellent storyline," Dunn explained.  "She's a Latino lady [and] on some rulings it's not clear that she's liberal."

"She may be more conservative than we think," he added. "Republicans cannot afford to alienate the growing block of Latino voters and female voters."

Click play for more of Dunn's perspective on Sotomayor's confirmation hearings.