Hey, Al: Just Tell the Truth. Politely.

Personal stories are compelling every time. Clarence Thomas was the young man from Pinpoint, Ga. Bob Gates, the faceless bureaucrat trying to be CIA chief, became the guy who arrived in town with all his belongings in the back seat of a Mustang convertible. Have an answer for the one question you don't want to be asked because you will undoubtedly be asked that question. Also, it's very important to pause before you answer. Ask yourself where the senator is going on this question. How will your answer play in the hearing room, on TV, in the next morning's newspaper, on the Internet?

-- Kenneth M. Duberstein, chief of staff to President Ronald Reagan, who helped prepare

Justices David H. Souter, Anthony M. Kennedy and Thomas for confirmation hearings

To prepare for my hearing, we had a murder board, and that was mostly just shouting. People from the DOJ and the White House were just shouting to indicate what the hearing would be like. Nobody played the role of Sen. Ted Kennedy or others, but they did begin shouting questions such as, "Why are you against civil liberties?" I decided to go for more substantive preparation. I gathered five or six knowledgeable friends and we discussed various subjects around the dining room table. In the Gonzales hearing, there will be a lot of slogan shouting -- at the level of bumper-sticker discourse: "Why did you mislead us about your participation in the U.S. attorney firings?" They'll assume that he misled them deliberately.

How could the process be improved? Only by getting better senators.

-- Robert H. Bork, whose 1987 Supreme Court nomination was rejected, 58 to 42, by the Senate