In the end, will it just come down to how big a hit with female voter the repbulicans are prepared to wear in order to get their man through?

Ford's testimony was credible and compelling, the prosecutor they hired was unable to find anything that damaged it. They know that by ignoring it they will make a lot of women, many of them silent victims of sexual assault themselves, angry and alienated from the party. They have to weigh this up against getting this political hack on the bench. It won't be the investigation, but this calculation that determines if they push him through