doc_text: If that's so, said Sen. Paul Simon, D-Ill., "he's the only person gathered in the room who does not have an opinion."; Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., added, "I'm concerned about his candor, his willingness to be forthcoming."
  Kohl was today's leadoff questioner as the hearings entered their third day.
  ; Two pivotal members of the 14-member committee -- Howell Heflin, D-Ala., and Arlen Specter, R-Pa. -- also voiced concern about Thomas' answers.
  But the panel's traditional third swing vote, Dennis DeConcini, D-Ariz., said Thomas was doing well.; Heflin cited the "appearance of a confirmation conversion" and said it may raise questions of Thomas' "integrity and temperament."; But Heflin added, "I am not at this time of any firm opinion one way or the other" on whether Thomas should be confirmed.; And Simon said Thomas' performance thus far "has neither helped him nor hurt him."; Specter blamed fellow committee members more than Thomas in concluding, "We really haven't moved very far in the process."; Thomas, a black federal appeals judge, was picked by President Bush to replace the retiring Thurgood Marshall, the high court's only black justice.; DeConcini said he thought the conservative Thomas "handled the privacy questions very well" without taking a stand on abortion.
  "I don't see how you could ask him to do anything more."; Thomas expanded earlier testimony by saying Wednesday that he believed the right of marital privacy was "fundamental" -- a status that accords it the fullest judicial protection from government intrusion.; But he repeatedly refused to state his views on the 1973 abortion decision based on women's right of privacy.
  To give such an answer, he said, "would undermine my ability to sit in an impartial way on such an important case."; Thomas, who sat alone at the witness table with no notes or reference materials, also claimed a lack of familiarity with the subject matter when asked about some of his former speeches and articles.
  ; That moved committee Chairman Joseph Biden, D-Del., to give Thomas a stack of the judge's past speeches so the nominee could "help me understand them" during future questioning.; Thomas, testifying calmly but warily, did offer fuller comment on another hot issue before the high court: prayer in public schools.
  ; After Simon discussed the feelings decades ago of a Jewish elementary schoolboy who left the room each day while his classmates recited a prayer, Thomas said, "Any policy of exclusion should be considered inappropriate.
  "; Outside the hearing room, abortion-rights advocates said Thomas should not be allowed to disavow past comments they say show he would vote to ban most, if not all, abortions.; "His most unimpressive testimony poses two equally disturbing possibilities: he is either willfully misleading the committee about his views to win confirmation, or he is a man whose convictions have shallow roots," said Arthur Kropp of People for the American Way.; Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said he could not understand how Thomas' prior statements touching on the 1973 abortion decision could have been made without considering its content.
  "I'm not satisfied with the answers," Leahy said.; Although Thomas appeared to back away from comments made in past speeches or articles, he told the committee, "My view is that I have been consistent."; Thomas' opponents believe Republicans Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, Orrin Hatch of Utah, Charles Grassley of Iowa, Alan Simpson of Wyoming and Hank Brown of Colorado are solid Thomas backers.;
  But they hope Sens. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and Howard Metzenbaum, D-Ohio, will be joined by the three swing-vote senators and Biden, Leahy, Simon and Kohl in voting against the nominee.; Biden and Kennedy declined comment Wednesday on their leanings.;
  Metzenbaum said Thomas' refusal to give direct answers "makes it more difficult to vote for him."; THOMAS' VIEWS; Excerpts from Clarence Thomas' testimony:; On abortion: "I have no reason or agenda to prejudge the issue . . .
  or a predilection to rule one way or another on the issue of abortion.
  "; On affirmative action: "The line that I drew was a line that said that we shouldn't have preferences, or goals, or timetables or quotas.
  "; On natural law: "At no time did I feel, nor do I feel now, that natural law is anything more than the background to our Constitution."; HEAR IT, SEE IT; Senate confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas are scheduled to run through Friday this week and every weekday except Wednesday next week.; RADIO; (box) KQED, 88.5 FM Tape delay beginning at 9 a.m.; repeated at 9:30 p.m.; (box) KPFA, 94.1 FM Live coverage begins at 6:30 a.m.; TELEVISION; (box) C-SPAN Live coverage begins at 7 a.m.; repeated at 5 p.m.; (box) CNN Intermittent coverage.
summary_text: Frustrated Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee say that Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas is evasive, but no groundswell of opposition to his confirmation is emerging.
  Thomas, a black federal judge was picked by President Bush to replace the retiring Thurgood Marshall, the high court's only black justice.
  Thomas said he believed the right to marital privacy was "fundamental", but he refused to give his views on the 1973 abortion decision based on a woman's right to privacy.
  On affirmative action he said there should be no preferences, goals, timetables or quotas.
  On school prayer, he said, "Any policy of exclusion should be considered inappropriate".