BLITZER: The senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee has put aside any doubts he may have had about Sonia Sotomayor and now supports her nomination to the United States Supreme Court. That would be Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

He's joining us now from Capitol Hill.

Senator, thanks very much for coming in.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: I remember covering all of your questioning. I think it's fair to say, among the most riveting of all of the senators -- your questioning of Judge Sonia Sotomayor.

At one point, you said some of her statements, "bugged the hell out of me."

GRAHAM: That's right.

BLITZER: Yet today you're saying you're going to vote yes to confirm her.

What happened?

GRAHAM: Well, the speeches she gave, I think, bugged a lot of people, not just me. The idea that "a wise Latina woman" more often than not, because of her experience and background, would reach a better conclusion than a white male is not something I think most Americans want to embrace.

I think Americans embrace the idea that diversity is good for the court.

But I looked at her record and I put the speech in perspective. She's lived an incredible life. She's been a judge for 17 years. There's no indication that her speech drove way she judged. And I based my decision on her qualifications and what a lot of nice people had to say about her. And, quite frankly, she's come a long way in life and worked very hard. And I think her time as a judge has been well within the mainstream. So I supported her.

BLITZER: And her judicial philosophy -- the empathy issue that some of the other Republican critics have raised -- that doesn't bother you?

GRAHAM: Well, Senator Obama said he could not vote for Judge Alito or Roberts because they didn't have enough empathy and, at the last analysis, you've got to look at a judge's heart. I don't believe that's the appropriate standard. I can't understand what's in your heart any more than you can understand what's in mine. And when you start looking at these subjective factors, it makes me fearful that judge -- people will not want to become judges.

So Scalia and Ginsburg -- one conservative, one liberal -- got over 90 votes. It used to, the Senate based their decision on qualifications, good conduct and experience. That's where I'd like to get the Senate back to and get away from this politicizing the judiciary and try and figure out people's hearts. That's not good for the judiciary.

BLITZER: No one worked harder for John McCain than you did. As soon as I heard word earlier today that you were going to vote in favor of her confirmation, I -- I said to myself, I wonder what John McCain is going to do.

Do you know?

GRAHAM: I don't know. But he voted against her to begin with, when she went on the 2nd Circuit. And there's reasons to be concerned and troubled about her record. And I can understand someone feeling that they can't vote for her.

But here's what I tried to do. Elections matter to me. President Obama won.

When he was Senator Obama, he did not do a very good job of trying to be fair to President Bush.

I want to end this Mideast politics, when it comes to judges. Her record, to me, was one of extremely well qualified. She got the highest rating from the Bar Association. She's been a judge for 17 years. And I think she'll be a very valuable member of the court.

From a conservative's point of view, I don't think she's going to be any worse than Judge Souter. So I felt like I wanted to take the Senate back to a new place.

BLITZER: I'm sure she's going to be grateful to you for that vote, Senator. Let me make a quick turn to health care.

GRAHAM: OK.

BLITZER: One of your colleagues, Orrin Hatch, Republican of Utah, he said today he was dropping out of these negotiations trying to come up with a bipartisan solution. He said: "I decided to withdraw because I'm having difficulty with the high costs of a number of the situations that I think they're ultimately going to come up with."

Is there any hope at all that health care reform cannot only get Democrats on board, but Republicans alongside?

GRAHAM: I don't think there's much hope for a public option. They have 60 Democratic senators and a 40 Democrat seat majority in the House and they can't put a bill together that has the public options, which I think will destroy private sector competition. And it explodes in costs.

So they're losing Democrats as well as Republicans.

But there is a bill. Ron Wyden and Bob Bennett from Utah, one Republican from Oregon -- a Democrat from Oregon, a Republican from Utah -- there are six Republicans and six Democrats on that bill -- I'm one of them -- that mandates coverage for every American, but allows the private sector to provide it. I would urge the president to look at that model. I think it's a way to break this impasse. And it's revenue neutral.

BLITZER: I asked David Axelrod, his senior adviser, earlier, if the -- if the president is ready to abandon that public option -- a government-sponsored health insurance plan that would compete with the private sector. And he indicated strongly the answer is no. The president believes in that as a way to try to reduce costs, to be more competitive, to let some of those -- those private insurers, like Blue Cross and Blue Shield and UnitedHealthcare have greater competition to bring down the price.

So what's wrong with that argument?

GRAHAM: Nobody in this country can compete with the government. This idea that the government has to be involved in the private sector to make the private sector honest really is troubling, because that's not the way America works.

If you have a government-run program, it will be able to provide benefits the private sector can't afford. You will eventually crowd out the private sector.

I don't think it's a good idea to own General Motors. The government now owns most of General Motors and the reason we own it is to discipline the other car companies. I think it's a model that won't work. And it's not just what I think. A lot of push back from Democrats.

There is another way of doing this. I respect the president. He's right to try to lower health care inflation, to reform the system. But the approach he's taking is not selling. There is a better way and I hope he will at least be open-minded to a different approach, because if he's not, we're going to stay stuck.

BLITZER: Senator Graham, thanks for coming in.

GRAHAM: Thank you.