NYT: How the Dems lost the rope-a-dope Alito hearings

[DeepModem Mom]

Two Nominee Strategies. One Worked.
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
Published: January 31, 2006


....As the last obstacles to confirmation faded away Monday, Democratic aides said their party had initially expected Judge Alito to live up to his reputation as "Scalito," suggesting a conservative firebrand in the mold of Justice Antonin Scalia. Failing to adjust to his meekness, Democratic aides admit they searched too hard for scandal in Judge Alito's past.

The White House, meanwhile, sought to take advantage of Judge Alito's low-key, almost shy demeanor to build sympathy for him. They say they succeeded beyond all expectations when Judge Alito's wife, Martha-Ann, walked out in tears from his confirmation hearings.

"Any time they are yelling, preaching, lecturing, and you are cool and calm and breathing deep, you are winning," the administration official said the White House team told Judge Alito. "What that means on television sets where the American people are watching this is, you look good and they look bad. It was the central operating premise."

Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, agreed. "It was a classic rope-a-dope," Mr. Manley said, referring to the boxing tactic of leaning against the ropes to let an opponent exhaust himself punching....

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In an interview over the weekend, Mr. Kennedy acknowledged that the Democrats had invested too much in the Vanguard and alumni group matters at the expense of making a more coherent case against Judge Alito on substantive issues....


http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/31/politics/politicsspecial1/31confirm.html