Still, Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa and member of the Judiciary Committee, noted that Democrats had used a filibuster to block the confirmation of Miguel Estrada, a Washington lawyer nominated by Mr. Bush to be the first Hispanic on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Senate Democrats who considered Mr. Estrada too conservative blocked his nomination after he refused to answer questions about his judicial philosophy at his confirmation hearing.

Mr. Grassley said that since Democrats had not paid a price among Hispanic groups for opposing Mr. Estrada, Republicans should not be held to a different standard if they opposed Judge Sotomayor.

“I get back to this: if it makes a difference for Republicans to vote against Sotomayor because it might cause us some problems with the Hispanic community, then the Hispanic community has a double standard,” Mr. Grassley said. “How can any politician deal with double standards? You can never win. All I am asking people is to be intellectually honest.”