Posted by Orin Kerr:
The Effect of the Internet on the Number of Withdrawn Nominees:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_03_08-2009_03_14.shtml#1236765497
In [1]his post below, Eugene asks why there seem to be many more
withdrawn nominees in the early phase of this Administration than in
past Administrations. I'm not really sure there are so many more in
this Administration than others, as it's not something I have followed
closely or can easily quantify. At the same time, if it's happening, I
would think one significant reason is the Internet.
The Internet has made so much more information about people widely
available in an instant that there is now much more basis for critics
to object to nominees who have said or done something controversial.
In the the old days, it was hard to learn about a nominee. You might
know a nominee's basic resume, but good luck finding any record of
what they thought or said or did on controversial issues. In an era of
blogs, YouTube, and Google, that's must less common. A great deal is
now online, so there is much more information out there and there's a
much greater chance that something the nominee said or wrote about
controversial issues will come to light. And humans being humans,
messy and imperfect, at least some of that is going to cause problems
for at least some of the nominees.
I don't think that explains everything. But if it's true that there
have been more withdrawn nominees than in the past, I suspect the
Internet explains at least part of it.
References
1. http://volokh.com/posts/1236743074.shtml
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