The Democratic Dream: Defeat Kavanaugh, Win the Senate and Stop Trump Supreme Court Picks

The New York Times ^ | September 25, 2018 | Peter Baker

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As President Trump fights for confirmation of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, the stakes go beyond the fate of this particular conservative nominee. At risk for Mr. Trump is his ability to install any more conservatives on the court at all.

If Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination falls apart in the face of sexual misconduct accusations, Mr. Trump faces the very real possibility that he could lose his chance to put even his second choice in this seat, which holds the balance between conservative and liberal wings on the nation’s most important court.

Democrats need to pick up only two seats in the midterm elections six weeks from Tuesday to take control of the Senate, and their anger over the Republican refusal to even consider President Barack Obama’s last nominee for the Supreme Court in 2016 is unabated. If Democrats take charge, they could block any choice Mr. Trump sends up or at least force him to pick a candidate more to their liking.

“Saving the Supreme Court from Trump’s clutches has always involved a very complicated two-step: first, block Kavanaugh, then fight like hell to win back the Senate,” said Brian Fallon, a 2016 campaign adviser to Hillary Clinton who helped start a group called Demand Justice to fight conservative judicial nominations. “If Kavanaugh drops out, we’re halfway there. If Democrats are able to win back the Senate, we’d have a path to blocking Trump from picking any of the archconservatives on his shortlist.”(continued)

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I think DiFi-kenstein finally stepped in the slipperiest pile of doo-doo when she asked for the latest delay... Grassley’s polite reply intimated he keeps his promises even though she doesn’t keep hers...best sort of smack-down...