UPDATE TONIGHT Thursday date has has been agreed to by Grassley. Other details being ironed out. I suspect Dr. Ford will get most of what she is requesting, for the reasons listed below, except maybe the order of who goes first.
As someone who has negotiated hundreds of contracts over the years and consult with companies on language and messaging; I was surprised to see headlines on every major media site saying that Dr. Ford would be testifying next week.
What I gleaned from her attorney’s letter, the meta message, was this:
1. We don’t think you have been negotiating in good faith thus far.
2. We would like to come to testify, therefore we will give you another shot at presenting terms that are fair.
3. If not we are prepared to get her story out without your involvement.
What this signaled is that Dr. Ford and her attorney Debra Katz are willing to cut bait with the Judiciary Committee If necessary. They are telling them “we actually have the better cards” in lawyer code language. If they were to overtly threaten in a public forum then the other side is more likely to dig in.
Maybe the media missed this subtle message, but I would wager Senate Republicans, the White House and Judge Kavanaugh heard it loud and clear.
Republicans are stuck right now with few good options. They need Kavanaugh to give a winning performance to have any chance of some kind of neutral outcome which is the best they can hope for at this point. That can’t happen without a hearing.