OK. Now we have our non-stealth nominee. But I hope, since the candidate isn't stealth, his comments at his hearings won't be either. Conservatives have tried to play things both ways. They demand a candidate with a record, but then think he should answer "stealthily" (e.g., following the Ginsberg model). That might have been necessary when the Dems controlled the Senate, but it's a loser strategy now. If Alito tries to be coy, the Senate Dems are going to use the hearings to grandstand and cherry-pick his long record of opinions --he's likely to get through anyway I suppose, but that's no way to educate the public, which is what Conservatives claim they want in a "battle over the Judiciary." To do things that way is to cede the Left the ground.
Instead, since Alito's a million times smarter than anyone on the Judiciary committee, he should go and answer questions. Obviously, he can't predict how he'll vote on any case before the Court, but there's no reason at all he can't comment on decided cases --even if he prescinds from saying whether he likes the result, he can comment on the judicial reasoning contained therein. All the Admin. needs to do is feed a few questions to the friendly Senators. For example, it would be fantastic to have Alito pick Stenberg (the partial-birth abortion ruling)apart. Dollars to donuts not even Boxer or Schumer would defend partial-birth abortion in a fair and open forum. But even if they do, points for us.
