Completely believable. Everyone remembers the Clarence Thomas nomination. For tens of millions of Americans who do not follow supreme court rulings, the one thing they most associate with his name now and for the rest of his life is the alleged harassment of Anita Hill, the pubic hair on a coke, porn videos, etc.
District and Appeals court nominations are one thing, but, as is now being demonstrated (and will continue to get worse) with Ms. Miers, the Supreme Court is completely different.
Do you think people have forgotten the attempt by the NYT to get behind the sealed adoption records of Justice Roberts' children to dig up dirt on him?
Why it is believable when circuit court nominees have waited through years of filibusters and brutal hearings for a chance for a job on the circuit courts? If one can go through that, I see no reason why the same judges wouldn't go through a brutal hearing for a job on the highest court.