The Judiciary Committee has decided not to consider Judge Alito's nomination until January. (Clearly, we wouldn't want to inconvenience any Senator's holiday plans ...)
The trouble is that time is not our friend. Extending this process means more time for the Democrats to come up with an attack plan.
But even more concerning, this postponement forces the already fickle media to come up with more and more Alito content in order to “feed the beast.” It won’t be long before reporters will tire of covering this nomination as a news story based on its own merits and seek to uncover - or invent - a more controversial angle, in order to satisfy the insatiable appetites of their editors and the public.
Harriet Miers was a flawed pick, but she was not well served by the extended amount of time between her nomination and confirmation hearing (which never took place). Each day that passed saw more criticism from the chattering class. (The Catch 22 is that she needed the time to prepare for the hearings.)
Granted, Judge Samuel Alito is no Harriet Miers. He is a much better pick. But by failing to insist on an up or down vote before Christmas, the Judiciary Committee has just made our jobs tougher. You and I must now step up our efforts and continue to be diligent in supporting this nomination. The other side won’t let up - and neither can we.
