What Went Down On Day 1 Of The Impeachment Hearings

Would like to remind everyone of the mood and framing of the ongoing story after Dems’ questioning of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in his last confirmation hearing. The pundits all spoke about how many blows Dems landed during the break after their round. But by the time GOP questioning was done — and after Lindsey Graham did some yelling — things had shifted, and all of a sudden it was easier to see how GOP would still vote for his confirmation. The press often relies on politicians to make politicians’ rationale visible to them, and then shifts the frame accordingly.

Yeah, Micah, I agree, and I think Chad’s point from earlier looks like it’s going to be right on the money. I turned to Twitter just now and the reaction is a lot stronger than I would have expected just sitting and watching (not that Twitter is representative, but it shows how things will be framed). And The New York Times news alert I just got was pretty dramatic.

Taylor is obviously Democrats’ star witness here, and I think he’s done a good job of making a complicated story come to life. I will be very interested, though, to see how he responds to Republicans’ questioning (and how they approach him strategically). What will they do to try to poke holes in his testimony, and will he be able to deflect their attacks while remaining cool and self-possessed?