Fair question. I think Murkowski is another moderate Republican. But two is not many and it's a long shot.
I think the conclusion is clear.
My feeling was, when the Democrats started talking about documents instead of issues, they lost the confirmation battle. I think the Dems aren't going to fight this one hard because the base doesn't really care, and the DNC really doesn't want to lose any red state Dems in the Senate.
I find this to be a very odd position. In the first place, the documents are being used to bring up the issues of race and abortion. Secondly, Kavanaugh isn't going to own up to his positions on issues. Thirdly, Democrats are in the minority, and its not like they are going to change the Republican Senators minds on issues.
There is no confirmation battle. Republicans have the votes, and a few vulnerable Dems will use that as cover. The only thing that could stop it would be some sort of non-issue scandal.
I don't see how they could be fighting harder. They are really just powerless in this situation. SCOTUS control is a huge issue for the bases of both parties. Did you miss the absolutely devastated grieving when Kennedy announced his retirement? It was a political bombshell.
Really? I got my Trump voting buddy to concede that they should have time to review the released documents.
It took some effort, and I had to put the unreleased documents aside, but he agreed in the end.
He's a decent guy, despite his vote.
To continue on the above, the Dems are playing a low probability shot, but it's still the best shot they have. They aren't trying to convince other dems or the public; they are trying to convince two Republicans. Any two. Now, there are two who have claimed that Kavanaugh's saying that Roe is settled law, that protecting Roe, is a test for them. That Kavanaugh doesn't actually act as if he believes it is (and said so to others), and has ruled in a staggeringly stupid way the one time he had any input on an abortion case should be some leverage. Trump also promised that he would only nominate off of the list he was given when he was a candidate; he lied. Lied right to the GOP because Kavanaugh was NOT on that list. Kavanaugh's bizarre belief that presidents shouldn't even be investigated should be a disqualifier for much of the GOP as well. How do you impeach a president you can't investigate? It's a frankly contemptibly stupid reading of the Constitution (note that I am still unclear on his exact legal support for that opinion as what he offers in support is not based in law). Listening to some more of the hearings to try to substantiate theprestige's claim from last page, I also noted the Senator from Hawaii called out his outstandingly hostile view on programs for native peoples, and she
specifically called on her colleague from Alaska to consider the implications for her state. That would be Lisa Murkowski, good call phiwum, and she is also one of the Republican Senators who strongly supports Roe.
The Dems are working hard to do the work, and are making some very smart moves (even if they aren't going to work). They are showing the Republicans that Kavanaugh is NOT a nominee they
should accept based on
the Republicans own stated criteria. And really, they are absolutely right. There are plenty of judges I'd still oppose because of their political views who don't have the other huge problems with Kavanaugh that should disqualify him in the eyes of the GOP. McConnell even told the administration he's the hardest choice to confirm.
Some posters here are calling out the Democrats for doing the job, investigating the nominee and showing if they are a good pick or not, because they have political incentive to do so. The Republicans are
not doing due diligence because they have political incentive to not do so, but that's ok for some reason?
To put this another way; the GOP has the votes to confirm Kavanaugh, so what are they afraid of? Why not release more documents? Because they know it might lose them some Senators not on the committee. They are not afraid of losing Democrats because they're not a get. If there was no risk of losing a GOP vote, there would be no benefit to doing the process dirty as they are. Of course just because it would be stupid to do it that way for no real benefit doesn't mean that
isn't what is happening.