Are Dems Throwing In The Towel On Alito?

Having read many of the opening statements from Monday and having watching much of the questioning by Democrat Committee members, it's clear that they haven't brought their A-game. Schumer was combative and Durbin certainly did his best to earn his nickname - "Dick". But that's about it so far.

All in all I don't sense a real aggressive approach on their part in these hearings. John McIntyre at The RCP Blog concurs:

Barring a change of tactics that would have to come soon, it looks like Democrats are giving Alito a pass. I still wouldnÂ’t rule out the possibility of a filibuster, but one would think that if the Democrats' plan was to filibuster, they would be making a more aggressive attempt to paint Alito as out of the mainstream with the hope of peeling away a few moderate Republicans and stiffening the spines of conservative Democrats.

What is interesting is when you look at the liberal blogs and what they are talking about, the energy is clearly not on Alito, and that should tell you a lot. I think the left-wing blogosphere is coalescing around the idea Bush and the Republicans are toast based on Abramoff, Iraq and the PresidentÂ’s spying on the American people. They correctly have determined that Alito is a losing battle for them and they are moving on. And I wonder if that is what we are seeing with Senate Democrats as well.

I also like how the GOP Senators are taking the opportunity to cogently explain their view of the role of the Supreme Court (for the benefit of the home audience). They've also picked apart the concepts of Roe being an undisputable precedent and relying on foreign law to make Constitutional decisions.

Mark Levin comments on the Dem Senators:

Sam Alito will be confirmed. The only question is how much more damage the Democrats will inflict on themselves during the course of these hearings.

And NRO's Bench Memos is keeping score.

UPDATE: A.J. Strata pulls quotes from some KosKids. They're all pissed off because the media isn't piling on Lefty attacks against Alito. Of course the press would if they thought it would make a difference, but they at least have the sense to recognize how stupid the Dems look right now.

UPDATE II: Teddy's been hitting the Chivas (and the Liberal Groups have been no doubt hitting him). He's grasping at the Princeton think. Specter just smacked him down. I suspect there's no substance to this line of attack, but the fat Senator from MA just made sure the MSM got their highlight reel for this evening.

UPDATE III: To John McIntyre's earlier point about the Liberal blogs on Alito. I got an email from MoveOn.org today spurring me to action against the "corrupt Abramoff Republicans". But nary a single word about Alito, the hearings, the Supreme Court...zip, zero, nada.

Posted by: Gary at 11:45 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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