Overshadowed by many other stories, the Supreme Court nomination of Elena Kagan is expected to be approved by the Senate today, as President Obama will get a second nominee onto the high court in his second year in office.

The debate on Kagan's nomination was by-the-book on Wednesday, as both sides made the expected arguments for and against the President's nominee, who has secured support of almost all Democrats.

So far, only five Republicans have agreed to back Kagan, and with Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) voting against Kagan after voting for Sonia Sotomayor, that means Kagan will definitely get fewer votes than Sotomayor, who was confirmed on a vote of 68-31 last year.

Republicans on Wednesday kept up a drumbeat of opposition to Kagan on a variety of fronts, with a lot of their comments focused on how Kagan would deal with gun rights and the Second Amendment.

"We're going to have a Supreme Court Justice who is going to have 'no view' of what our Constitutional rights are?" asked an incredulous Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), who blistered Kagan in a floor speech, taking issue with her sometimes limited answers in Senate hearings.

Coburn may have had the line of the day, when he said that Kagan's answers "causes me to shake in my boots."

Democrats meanwhile had high praise as expected, shrugging off the GOP cries of danger, much as Republicans ridiculed Democrats who said that the world would end when Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito were up for a vote.

Kagan should get about 63 or 64 votes.  If you want to see how that compares to other Supreme Court choices, check out this link from the Senate's web page at http://is.gd/e37Cc />
After the Kagan vote, and approval of the $26 billion state aid package, Senators should be ready to go home until mid September.

As for Kagan, she will have time to join the Court, and be ready for the first cases to be heard on the first Monday in October.