Suspect Dershowitz is thinking like a lawyer and a Democrat. This was not a court of law, it was political theater. The stratedgy was not to make Ford look bad, it was to make the Democrats look bad. And they did look very bad by the end of the day. For the thinking people watching Ford was descredited. But she was treated nicely and with respect for the sake of soft headed people who are hyper sensitive.
-—The strategy was not to make Ford look bad, it was to make the Democrats look bad——
Nailed it! 100% right.
Another thing was to demonstrate Ford was lying/disturbed, but to do so in a gentle way where the audience could conclude that on their own just by hearing her, rather than being pushed there by belligerent questions which look bad politically (and something the Dems would have capitalized on).