Could Kavanaugh furor spark another 'year of the woman'?
Political insiders are trying to forecast the potential ramifications of the Brett Kavanaugh controversy in real time, after President Trump's Supreme Court nomination was roiled this week by allegations of sexual assault.
Christine Blasey Ford alleges that Kavanaugh held her down on a bed, groped her and covered her mouth to mute her distress at a house party in Maryland in 1982 when both were high school students.
Kavanaugh denies the allegations, and the Senate Judiciary Committee has been locked in negotiations that spilled into Saturday on whether Ford would testify next week and on what day, among other conditions.
Trump and the Republican Party had seen erosion in female support even before the current furor. Now the question is whether the allegations, and the response to them, will inflict further damage with the midterms roughly six weeks away.
Some Democratic strategists say they could be on the brink of a similar situation to one seen a generation ago.
In 1991, Anita Hill accused then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexually harassing her. Thomas was ultimately confirmed to the high court, but the following year saw Democrats win the White House and four female senators — all Democrats — get elected. It was dubbed the Year of the Woman.
“The dynamics of having exclusively white male Republican senators [questioning Hill] ushered in the ‘Year of the Woman’ — the biggest understanding of the need to expand women’s political power this country has ever seen,” said Democratic strategist Jess McIntosh.
McIntosh added she could “only imagine what happens in 2018” given that women are, she said, “incandescent with rage right now.”
https://thehill.com/homenews/the-memo/407921-the-memo-could-kavanaugh-furor-spark-another-year-of-the-woman?userid=229233
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