They could have stalled and filibustered and used all the tricks that the Democrats used to block nominees like Bork. But nobody did much of anything.
Lots of Republicans actually voted for the Wise Latina. I disremember how many of them voted for Kagan. But their performance was certainly pretty dismal.
See post #15. Just a couple more than that voted for Sotomayor. The gang of RINOs are the ones that made a filibuster impossible.