Biden tells NPR he "fought like hell" to support Anita Hill and oppose Clarence Thomas'

[JHB]

13. Or could it be that Joe is spinning a little?

Thomas was a mediocre nominee with conflict of interest issues, but the conservatives wanted a reliable operative in the court young enough to be there for decades. Initially Biden and other senate Democrats were not inclined to oppose too much because the conservative had thrown a tantrum over Bork and they didn't want a repeat. Plus, initially, the black community didn't know much about Thomas, but wouldn't react well to a liberals blocking a black nominee.

Two things threw a wrench in that acquiescence: Thurgood Marshall's "a black snake is still a snake" comment, which soured the cautious black support of Thomas, and the sexual harassment issue coming out, which Democratic women were tired of seeing swept under the rug. But this late-stage opposition made the Republicans go full blast supporting Thomas.

Sure it took Anita Hill a lot of courage to come forward, but she wasn't the only one. The hearings devolved into he-said/she-said, but having more than one woman would have changed that. Angela Wright was there, but she wasn't called.

And so we've had a mediocre jurist with conflict of interest issues acting as a reliable conservative operator on the Supreme Court of nearly 30 years. Is DU's conventional wisdom mistaken? Or is Joe trying to put a good face on short-sightedness?