Baker was a decent guy but while he went on vacation Kennedy went to work to scuttle the Bork nomination.
I was at CPAC in ‘78 and ‘79 and in one of those I remember Congressman John Ashbrook from Ohio saying...”And if you’re from Tennessee you should tell Howard Baker, “I’ll never vote for you again.”” I was from Tennessee and Ashbrook seemed to look right at me. This was in the wake of the Panama Canal giveaway led by Howard Baker. Soon Ashbrook died suddenly and mysteriously while Baker went on to be the toast of the establishment GOP.