"He picked up the phone, called the 7 RINOs and read them the list of FR rock star hardline conservatives and counted the NO votes."
That's called politics, and politicians can be induced to change their vote all kinds of ways.
The goal isn't to get someone - anyone - in. It's to get the best candidate in, which she is clearly not.
That word best means something different to lots of different people.... How you define best may be different than how I define best.
I don't care if the nominee is the best nominee or not. I just want one that will decide cases the way I think they should be decided :)
Look, I sympathize. The world is not what we'd like.
The RINOs exist.
The goal has to be to nominate the rightward most candidate who is confirmable. Both criteria are equally important.
This stealth candidate is heading towards confirmation and she is more conservative than O'Connor. The court moves rightward as a result.
An enormous victory for a brilliant team.