Washington (CNN) Brett Kavanaugh, the Supreme Court pick who could tilt American jurisprudence to the right for a generation, vowed to be neutral and impartial, shrugging off bitter Democratic demands for him to stall his own confirmation hearing until questions about his past are fully answered.

President Donald Trump's second pick for the nation's highest court sat silently for much of the day as Democrats staged an aggressive, coordinated effort to slow his apparent march to confirmation -- in exchanges that highlighted several potential 2020 presidential contenders, including California Sen. Kamala Harris and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker.

In addition, Capitol Police said they made 70 arrests Tuesday for protests during the hearing and in other parts of Capitol Hill.

After seven hours of political sparring mostly aimed by senators at their constituencies outside the hearing room, Kavanaugh finally got the chance to speak, and delivered emotional tributes to members of his family and his friends -- but resolved none of the issues that Democrats say should derail his nomination.

In a comment that seemed to fly in the face of a day of political estrangement, he warned that the Supreme Court "must never be viewed as a partisan institution" and argued that "a good judge must be an umpire -- a neutral and impartial arbiter who favors no litigant or policy."

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