Posted by Orin Kerr:
MSM Reaction to Alito Hearings:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2006_01_08-2006_01_14.shtml#1136957735
With Tuesday's hearings over, we're getting the first of the big media
insta-reactions to the Alito hearings. Based on my quick survey, most
commentators seem to think Alito had a good day. Here are a few
representative reactions:
Over at the [1]New York Times, Adam Liptak and Adam Nagourney think
Alito is holding up well:
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.
At the [2]Washington Post, Charles Lane focuses on how Alito presents
himself as low-key and reassuring:
On his first day of questioning from senators, Supreme Court
nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. tried to send a reassuring message: The
country may be at war, but Americans' personal privacy and civil
liberties will be safe with me.
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.
At [3]NPR & Slate, Dahlia Lithwick thinks Alito is succeeding by
making the proceedings really really boring:
There are, it seems, better and worse ways to game your Supreme
Court confirmation hearings. John Roberts charmed his way through
the proceedings. Sam Alito has chosen to simply bore his way
through, and as a consequence, two days into the hearings, the
Democrats on the judiciary committee have hardly laid a glove on
him. I count only three occasions today on which he refuses to
answer a question; that's not going to be his way. His way is to
drill down and answer in lengthy doctrinal detail; to justify his
past decisions with technical legal analysis; to expound upon
three-part tests and legal factors to be balanced. He never tells
you the answer to the question, but he's always expansive on how he
might get there.
There are some tangible benefits to this approach: For one thing,
Alito has thus far generated not one flash of heat. There has been
no clash, no argument, no losing of his temper. He is like a very,
very smart rock. And this stoniness is slowly wearing down his
opposition.
References
1. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/11/politics/politicsspecial1/11alito.html
2.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/10/AR2006011001568.html
3. http://www.slate.com/id/2134055/entry/0/
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