Democrats hope Obamacare fears will derail Kavanaugh as White House moves to soften his image
As President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, made the rounds Tuesday on Capitol Hill, early contours of what is likely to be a bitter confirmation battle began to take shape.
Democrats, who had previously focused largely on the impact to legalized abortion, began shifting their focus to the threat Trump’s pick might pose to the survival of the 2010 Affordable Care Act. Not only has healthcare proved to be a galvanizing force for the party’s supporters, it’s far less divisive than abortion.
Republicans, meanwhile, are working to soften Kavanaugh’s image as a political operative who has been at the center of some of the most partisan battles of the last two decades. The White House and its surrogates are instead drawing attention to the nominee’s impressive credentials and what they see as his commitment to women and diversity.
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But to hold onto Democrats representing conservative states won by Trump, Democrats are increasingly talking about how Kavanaugh might shift the balance on President Obama’s healthcare law, a unifying issue that tends to poll well. And so far it seems to be working on vulnerable Democrats in red states.
Sen. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia — who last year voted for Trump’s first Supreme Court selection — immediately picked up on the talking point, saying that he would consider the “nearly 800,000 West Virginians with preexisting conditions” when making his confirmation vote.
Read more: http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-kavanaugh-confirmation-battle-20180710-story.html#