"...there were many Republican senators who were adamantly opposed to having Bork on the court -- mainly because his role in the Watergate affair..." - Alberta's Child
MANY Republican senators? I think not. To the best of my memory, Bork's justification for his actions was not attacked during the confirmation hearings. Those GOP senators who eventually voted against him stated that they did so on grounds of general legal philosophy.
I'm talking about what happened behind the scenes there. A lot of Republicans didn't want him confirmed, and they were content to let the Democrats "bork" him because it helped these Senators stand up for him in public even though they opposed him -- which carried a lot of weight with the GOP base.