I think the point is to have a fair hearing of Ford’s charges, not to do a fluff job on Kavanaugh. He’s strong enough to answer tough questions.
However, from my perspective it appears the R's avoided their responsibility to fully attempt to determine whether Ford was a credible accuser.
This may be excusable and warrant R acceptance if the vote for confirmation is a slam dunk; i.e. there would be no necessity for a bloody mess with R fingerprints.
In essence, the committee brought in a mediator, albeit one with a confrontational and somewhat biased tone. (That would also explain why Mitchell would give Ford an "Ok" after most of her responses.)
on one hand, the use of a mediator in such committee procedures may be a step forward. On the other, this may have been a missed, important opportunity to give future character assassins pause for concern.