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His appearance in the White House briefing room the next day was as dramatic as any since Meese and Reagan announced the Iran-contra arms-profit diversion. "Were the fate of Robert Bork the only thing at stake," said the judge, his voice breaking with emotion, "I would ask the President to withdraw my nomination." But, lashing out at the aggressive drive to squash his confirmation, Bork said the appointment of judges must not be decided by "campaigns of distortion." The judge declared his nomination should be given a "full debate and final Senate decision."
Bork's statement was a stunning, defiant gesture, particularly since it occurred at the end of a week in which his chances for confirmation dissipated with dizzying speed. First the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 9 to 5 to send the nomination to the floor with a negative recommendation. All three of the panel members who were undecided when the hearings began -- Republican Arlen Specter and Democrats Dennis DeConcini and Howell Heflin -- voted against Bork. The parade of lawmakers announcing their intention to oppose Bork in the full Senate vote accelerated. By Friday, 53 Senators had come out against him.
The onslaught prompted a flurry of recriminations over "who lost Bork." Hard-line conservatives criticized Reagan and his aides for not anticipating the strength of the Bork opposition. They also attacked the White House's leisurely execution of its lobbying campaign for the judge. Daniel Casey, executive director of the American Conservative Union, complained that he had urged the President to swing through the South to lobby for Bork during the dog days of summer. "Instead," griped Casey, "he was sent off to Santa Barbara for 30 days to chop wood and ride horses." Iowa's Republican Senator Charles Grassley, a Reagan ally who voted for Bork on the Judiciary Committee, denounced the White House for being "asleep at the switch" last summer.
Bork's opponents, in the meantime, were putting together a megacoalition of civil rights, women's and liberal groups for a vigorous public crusade against him. Some of the attacks involved distortions of his record and implications that he was personally biased against blacks and women. But the most significant factor in Bork's defeat was the unified and vigorous efforts of local black leaders in the South. In the 1986 campaign, Democrats regained control of the Senate mainly by winning five Southern seats. Reagan campaigned against all the Democratic candidates, four of whom won with overwhelming black support. Those Senators were reluctant to ignore the personal appeals from such important constituents.
Bork's announcement squelched much of the infighting among conservatives, who bestowed upon him the sort of kudos more commonly reserved for the Light Brigade. "Judge Bork decided to stand and fight, even though it's probably a lost cause," said Minority Leader Bob Dole. "That's what America's all about: fighting against the odds, although the odds are probably unbeatable."