Washington (CNN) Liberals anticipated fireworks on Day one of confirmation hearings for Jeff Sessions as attorney general.

But instead, they mostly saw an old tradition in Washington: senatorial courtesy.

The Alabama senator didn't have an easy time of it during the over eight hours of testimony and question in the Judiciary Committee, but Democrats also didn't draw blood to change the political dynamic. Liberals were hoping for more.

"The first day of Senator Sessions' confirmation hearing proved that the rushed nature of the confirmation process places senatorial collegiality over the advice and consent responsibilities that are the Senate's constitutional duty," said a dismayed Wade Henderson, the president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

Henderson and others were watching to see if California Sen. Dianne Feinstein -- the new top Democrat on the committee -- was up to the task of holding Sessions' feet to the fire. But Feinstein's job was complicated by the fact that she was tasked with grilling a colleague who had worked for years with many members sitting on the dais.

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