I've been reading the posts of a number of bloggers who are actually at the Alito hearings, including Ed Morrissey of Captain's Quarters and Powerline among others.

I don't know that they are getting much better coverage from being there as opposed to watching it on cable, but what is impressive is the access they are getting to Republican Senators like Charles Grassley and Orrin Hatch. Hatch is my senator and I've only seen him across a crowded room.

Considering that Captain's Quarters gets about 25K visitors a day, and Powerline somewhat less than a 100K, the awareness has to be something other than the size of the audience. Those are great numbers for a blog, but miniscule even compared to undistinguished cable news shows like Hardball. Clearly its the quality of the audience that matters here--educated, generally affluent opinion-makers.

Y'all can take a bow.