Heidi Alexander: “the Senate has developed a bad habit. That bad habit is treating Presidential nominees as innocent until nominated. I…”

“the Senate has developed a bad habit. That bad habit is treating Presidential nominees as innocent until nominated. I hope to see better behavior during the next few weeks as the Senate begins hearings on President Trump's nomination of Judge Kavanaugh to be a member of the U.S. Supreme Court. Instead of treating Judge Kavanaugh as someone recently released from San Quentin prison, I hope we treat him with dignity and respect so Americans can better understand his temperament, his intelligence, and his character. That is what we should want to know about a Presidential nominee for the Supreme Court. The current rudeness is a recent phenomenon. Historically, Senators have recognized that bipartisan approval of qualified nominees helps improve the esteem of the Court. It confirms its impartiality. It strengthens it as an institution. For example, conservative Justice Antonin Scalia was confirmed unanimously by this body even though he was perhaps the most conservative Justice on the Court. On the other hand, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was confirmed with only three votes against her even though she may arguably be the most liberal Justice on the Court. Both were obviously well qualified, of good character, high intelligence, and good demeanor, and therefore the Senate--unanimously in one case and with only three ``no'' votes in the other case-- confirmed the President's nominees.…”