President George W. Bush looks on as Justice Anthony Kennedy swears in Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia during a ceremony Thursday, June 1, 2006, in the Rose Garden. Mrs. Ashley Kavanaugh holds the Holy Bible. White House photo by Eric Draper
Writing at The New York Times, Bret Stephens urges Democrats to not fall on their swords over the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Rather than force red state Democrats to oppose a popular choice who is almost certain to be confirmed, Stephens suggests to the party that they simply move forward. Kavanaugh deserves confirmation he says, and he is correct. He writes (abridged):
Let’s count the ways in which the Democrats aren’t helping themselves.
Kavanaugh will almost certainly be confirmed. Democrats who had pinned their hopes on flipping Senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski probably aren’t going to get their wish, since both Republican moderates voted to confirm Kavanaugh to his current judgeship in 2006 and have since spoken approvingly of his nomination.
Fierce opposition to Kavanaugh hurts Democrats. This was already going to be a difficult year for Senate Democrats, who are defending 10 seats in states won by Trump.
So please explain the logic of convincing Democratic voters in these states that the Kavanaugh nomination is the moral battle of our time — and then putting their senators to the choice of looking like political sellouts if they vote for Kavanaugh, or moral cowards if they don’t (and vice versa)?
A plurality of Americans already want Kavanaugh confirmed, according to a Rasmussen poll.
Kavanaugh deserves confirmation.
Read more here.
