Attorney General Jerry Brown ultimately gave his approval of Chuck Poochigian at Poochigian's state appellate court confirmation hearing Thursday. But not before the two former rivals had several colorful exchanges.

Brown, a Democrat, beat the Republican Poochigian in the 2006 AG's race. The campaign was full of attacks as Brown painted Poochigian as out of step and Poochigian accused Brown as beign soft on crime.

On Thursday, the two men playfully sparred again for a bit -- including this moment as Poochigian, a former state lawmaker, defended his votes against several gay rights bills:

Poochigian: "No one that knows me thinks of me as a Neanderthal."
Brown: "By the way, I think I described you as a Neanderthal."
Poochigian: "I think you did, I just didn't think you'd catch it."