| NY Times:
If Senate Democrats had set out to portray Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. as extreme on issues ranging from abortion to government surveillance of citizens, they ran up against an elusive target on Tuesday: Samuel A. Alito Jr. For nearly eight hours, Judge Alito was placid, monochromatic and, it seemed, mostly untouchable.... For the most part, his handling of questions from Democrats had the effect of leaving his questioner shuffling through papers in search of the next question.
WaPo:
Alito Replies Don't Rock Status Quo. Under sharp questioning from Democrats and gentle prodding from Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee, the federal appeals judge portrayed himself as a cautious, independent thinker who understands the judiciary's role as a check on presidents who overstep their constitutional authority.
ABC News:
If Democrats were looking for an issue on which to hang a politically risky filibuster of Judge Samuel Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court, they didn't appear to find one today.
And so it will go, apparently. Like I said earlier today, the problem is the Senators themselves. They don't know how to ask tough questions. (NYT on Sen. Biden (D-Del.): "Mr. Biden in particular devoted most of his 30 minutes to talking, leaving little time for the nominee to speak." Great technique, Senator.) And because they don't know how to question a witness effectively, a smart guy like Alito (or Roberts, or really anyone else likely to be nominated for the Supreme Court) has no difficulty coming across as a reasonable person who isn't going to rock the boat.
Maybe Alito really is a reasonable person who isn't going to rock the boat. And maybe he isn't. Unfortunately, the lame questioning he underwent today isn't going to help us answer that question. Maybe tomorrow will be better, but I doubt it. And so I stick by my prediction: no filibuster, and Alito will be confirmed, though by a relatively narrow vote. (Incidentally, other aspects of my prediction appear to be wrong - the Alito hearings have been pretty tame so far and I suspect they'll remain so, and the discussions about executive power have been much less contentious than I thought they might.) |
