I thought Alito did well. I don’t think he told that opening anecdote very smoothly, but that’s okay: To the extent his remarks lacked polish, they drew sympathy and helped his basic I’m-one-of-you message. As the hearings go forward, I would not try to press the distinction between his previous job as an advocate and his current one as a judge too hard–at least not if it’s done in a way that attempts to distance himself from past stances.

The Corner and Bench Memos have done a good job of explaining Democratic senators’ distortions of Alito’s record. I’ll just add a few points in the posts to come.