This Issue Will Give Dems the One Vote They Need to Block Kavanaugh

[applegrove]

"SNIP.......

What may be more of a surprise, however, is the new report from POLITICO which points out that Schumer may need to get just one Republican Senator to switch sides and join the Democrats in defeating Kavanaugh’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“With John McCain away from Washington as he undergoes cancer treatment, the Republican Senate majority is effectively 50-49. That means Chuck Schumer might need only to peel away a single GOP lawmaker to block Brett Kavanaugh.”

.....

This changes the entire dynamic in Washington and makes the Democrats’ hopes of blocking Kavanaugh’s appointment seem like less of a pipe dream and more of an achievable goal.

.....

“In tapping Brett Kavanaugh to be his second nominee to the Supreme Court, Trump has guaranteed that health care will be at the center of the confirmation fight. Senate Democrats can use the confirmation to return attention to the health-care fight before the midterm elections. And Trump, with this nomination and other recent actions, made that much easier.”

......SNIP"

[tomp]

1. Don't assume all dems will vote against. nt

[alwaysinasnit]

2. I know this is cynical but,

that presupposes that all blue dog Democrats will hold the line.

[Aristus]

3. That's a very practical point of view.

I want to know, though: couldn't any Democrat voting to confirm expect to see his DNC campaign funding disappear?

[alwaysinasnit]

4. That would make sense except for Manchin's vote to confirm Benczkowski.

https://www.rollcall.com/news/policy/senate-expected-to-confirm-trump-doj-nominee-who-represented-russian-bank-in-2017

As he was the only Democrat to do so and seeing that this confirmation will totally help tRump, I wonder if Manchin is not afraid of this type of threat, especially as he is up for re-election this November. The particular vote has me gobsmacked.

[Aristus]

5. Any possibility of a primary challenge?

West Virginians are a stubborn, pigheaded lot; but they are in dire need of affordable health care and some economic boosters. I would think a Democratic challenger could run on those issues.

[alwaysinasnit]

7. Too late for this go-round, but I think it would be beneficial to the people of WV if a candidate in

in the mold of Conor Lamb could be convinced to challenge Manchin. Someone who gets those issues you mentioned and is "one of their own." And as a practical matter, is seen as not necessarily beholden to the Democratic establishment.

[mythology]

8. They voted for Trump by 40% and Capito by 30%

There is literally 0% chance at this point they vote for a Sanders or a Warren type. If you take out Manchin in the primary we are going from him voting with us most of the time, to somebody who will vote against us virtually all of the time.

[Aristus]

9. I figured.

Still, one always hopes for one sane person in the asylum...

[alwaysinasnit]

12. I agree with your assessment but my problem with Manchin is that he votes tRump's positions 60%

of the time.

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/congress-trump-score/joe-manchin-iii/

[DeminPennswoods]

10. Manchin's vote didn't matter since all Rs voted aye (50 votes)

nt

[gratuitous]

6. Well, let's not be hasty

Judge Kavanaugh has an extensive public record, rumored to be more than a million pages of documents. Correspondence, pleadings, notes, e-mails, risotto recipes, and so forth (there may be no risotto recipes). I think they all need a thorough going over to be sure of his credentials, his good faith, and insights into his character. We'll need majority reports, minority reports, specialist reports, all submitted to all the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Once all the committee members complete their review, then the Senate should schedule hearings for Judge Kavanaugh, as well as any other witnesses necessary to get a full picture of the nominee.

I would expect the document review could be done by Labor Day, reports written and submitted to the Committee by the end of September, and a hearing scheduled to begin October 30 or November 6, affording the members ample time to examine the nominee and call all other necessary witnesses. A vote of the full committee could be scheduled for November 27 or December 4.

Barring any reasonable extensions of time, assuming Kavanaugh makes it out of committee, the full Senate could vote by December 18. Of course, any delays could easily push this out until next year.

But the Senate owes it to the American people to do their job thoroughly.

[DeminPennswoods]

11. The WH memo to business leaders saying Kavanaugh will

always be on their side will help, too, no doubt.

[Hekate]

13. Peeling away that vote will involve some politickin', some wheeling and dealing...

I wonder how the purity police will handle that?