Sandra O’Connor’s Mettle and Character Never Failed

Even from this distance, and thus .far removed from the pressures of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing room, it’s obvious that Sandra Day .. -O’Connor has left a deep, perhaps l even an historic, impression on the • nation. True, there is a certain hometown bias in judging Judge O’Connor’s performance before the udiciary Committee, which must decide whether to recommend her confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court. But even taking hometown pride into account, Sandra O’Connor’s conduct for two days in the witness chair in that packed room, and in the face of hostile questions, will long be remembered by millions who watched and heard her on television and radio. I once spent less than 10 minutes testifying before the House Interior Committee in Washington on behalf of a civic project in which I was engaged in Florida in the early 1970s. And I can tell you those 10 minutes were gruelling. There were distractions of comingand-going congressmen, whispered asides at the committee table, and questions from a few members of the panel that clearly were designed to state a position rather than elicit information. That was tame, however, compared to the hours and hours spent by Judge O’Connor fielding questions while cameras clicked, and a nation focused attention on this Arizonan seized in a moment of history. What struck me, as it did nearly everyone I’ve heard discussing the O’Connor testimony, were two things. First, the personal poise and dignity she retained throughout,