October 4, 2018
BASKING IN SHAME:
Kavanaugh is almost through -- but at what cost to the Republicans? (Jacob Heilbrunn, October 4, 2018, Spectator USA)
The GOP really needed the stakes in the midterms to be the 5th vote on the Court, not support for the type of party that would seat Kavanaugh and taunt Ford.[T]he GOP has squeezed about as much as it can out of the Kavanaugh lemon. The price that it will pay in the midterms for ramming Kavanaugh through is the real question. Had Kavanaugh's nomination lingered on until the end of October, it would have been a potent organising instrument for the GOP. Much as in 2016, when McConnell and his confederates stymied the Merrick Garland nomination, Trump and Republican candidates would have been able to point to the signal importance of standing up for embattled white men and for ensuring that the Supreme Court becomes a conservative bastion.Now the tables are turned. Trump will engage in some chest-thumping over the next few days. West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin will buy himself some cover by voting for Kavanaugh. But the rage that is percolating in America will be exploited by the Democrats as they point to Kavanaugh's presence on the court as a permanent blot on the judiciary. More witnesses will come forth to testify about Kavanaugh's youth. More transgressions will be identified.
Posted by Orrin Judd at October 4, 2018 4:45 PM