Dos and don'ts of Senate confirmations

By FRED BARBASH & ANDIE COLLER
6/15/09 4:12 AM EDT

For the nominee, Supreme Court confirmation hearings are a high-wire act: Say too little, and you look like you’re hiding something; say too much, and you risk serving up a response like the infamous one Robert Bork gave Sen. Alan K. Simpson back in 1987.

When the Wyoming Republican asked, “Why do you want to be an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court?â€