Mitchell’s going to get a lot of criticism for being ineffective. But she was hired for her perceived expertise and non-partisanship, and maybe that’s what the GOP got. In her professional judgment, she thought Ford was basically credible — maybe not 100 percent accurate, but credible to the point where you sure as heck weren’t going to poke holes in her case in this very awkward format. So she punted, and let it be known that this wasn’t the right format, rather than trying to do so. I’m not sure I wouldn’t have done the same thing under the circumstances.
