With the confirmation hearings for Judge Brett Kavanaugh a little less than a month out - week of September 4th - political pundits are already putting out lists for possible Democrat Senators to keep an eye out for as possible swing votes. Here are a few to keep an eye on:
The Democrat Senators that supported Justice Gorsuch (Manchin, Heitkamp, & Donnelly):
Senator Manchin of West Virginia was the first to break ranks with his caucus to sit down with Judge Kavanaugh at the beginning of this month:
[Senator] Manchin bucked his party and announced he would meet with Judge Kavanaugh. Mr. Manchin is also one of a handful of Senate Democrats who have expressed openness to supporting Judge Kavanaugh despite a fierce campaign from progressive activists urging the Senate to reject Mr. Trump’s nominee...
Senator Manchin also cautioned fellow Democratic senators that all too quickly rejected Judge Kavanaugh's nomination mere moments after his formal announcement:
“I think it’s irresponsible to announce your position minutes after the nominee is announced,” Mr. Manchin said in a statement after the meeting. “I will not make a final decision on Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination until I complete a thorough and fair examination of his candidacy.”
As for Senator Heitkamp of North Dakota and Senator Donnelly of Indiana, they have largely been quiet on how they plan to vote.
Wildcard Democrats (Nelson, McCaskill, & Jones):
Senator Nelson from Florida is currently in the midst of a very tough re-election in a state that President Trump won in 2016. He recently appeared to back down from his initial opposition of Judge Kavanaugh, although as yet to declare how he plans to vote.
Senator McCaskill of Missouri, similarly, has yet to announce how she plans to vote but looks forward to reviewing Judge Kavanaugh's record.
A recent Fox News article suggested Senator Jones, from Alabama, could become one of these swing vote senators:
But one of the Senate’s newest members is emerging as a possible fourth Democratic vote who could consider backing President Trump’s high court pick in the end... Alabama Sen. Doug Jones, who was elected to Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ former seat in December, represents a state that voted for Trump by over 62 percent. This alone has made Jones somewhat of a wild card in the Democratic caucus.
The RNLA will continue to keep our members and readers up-to-date on the news surrounding Justice Kavanaugh's confirmation process. To sign the RNLA letter of support for Judge Kavanaugh, please click here. For the latest news, also visit www.RNLA.org, our Facebook, and our Twitter.
Next Monday night a future Supreme Court Justice will be revealed
to the public at 9 p.m. While the rumors are it will be either: Amy Coney
Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh or Raymond Kethledge, there is one thing we know for
sure: Democrats will go ballistic. So
before the good news on Monday, we thought we would knock down some of the
Democrats' attacks against any Supreme Court nominee from a Republican President.
1. The nominee must
pledge to a view on Roe v. Wade in order to be confirmed. We will let liberal icon Justice Ruth
Bader Ginsburg handle this one:
“You are well
aware that I came to this proceeding to be judged as a judge, not as an
advocate. Because I am and hope to continue to be a judge, it would be wrong for me to say or preview in this legislative
chamber how I would cast my vote on questions the Supreme Court may be called
upon to decide. Were I to rehearse here what I
would say and how I would reason on such questions, I would act injudiciously.
Judges in our system are bound to decide concrete cases, not abstract issues;
each case is based on particular facts and its decision should turn on those
facts and the governing law, stated and explained in light of the particular
arguments the parties or their representatives choose to present. A judge sworn to decide impartially can offer no forecasts, no
hints, for that would show not only disregard for the specifics of the
particular case, it would display disdain for the entire judicial process.”(U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, Hearing, 7/20/1993)
“There is a grand
tradition that I support that you can't ask a judge who’s nominated for a -- or
a potential judge who is nominated -- for a judgeship about a specific case
that might come before them.” (Sen. Schumer, Press Conference, 2/7/2017)
2. But if you want to talk about issues, even there Democrats are not telling the truth. Let's talk about the left's efforts to rally their base by saying Obamacare will be repealed:
DEMOCRATS: President Trump’s nominee could overturn the Affordable Care Act.
REALITY: Justice Anthony Kennedy voted to strike down the Affordable Care Act. Even if the same case were to come before the Court, and Justice Kennedy’s replacement voted the same way, the law would still be upheld, because the same five-Justice majority that upheld the law is still on the Court.
3. Led by Senator Schumer, Democrats are saying the nominee
should not be considered in an election year after Republican Leader McConnell
did not schedule a vote in 2016 after Justice Scalia passed. From
the Washington Post:
But here’s the rub: the Republican position, whether you
disagreed with it or not, clearly was based on the fact that it was a
presidential election year. Here’s Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on ABC’s
“This Week” on March 20, 2016:“The American people are in the middle of choosing who the
next president is going to be. And that next president ought to have this
appointment, which will affect the Supreme Court, for probably a quarter of a
century.” . . .
Bottom line: it’s pretty clear the debate in 2016 revolved
around nominations made in a presidential election year. Democrats are simply
spinning a false narrative.
The Democrats are going to attack any nominee from President Trump. The attacks will not be based on the nominee’s record or even well-grounded in reality. President Trump’s list is outstanding and any nominee from it would be committed to the rule of law. RNLA will be working to help win the public argument to confirm the nominee in the coming weeks.
10. President Trump will announce his decision on the evening of Monday, July 9th.
9. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer will follow the “Kennedy Rule” and oppose any nominee. Senator Ted Kennedy gave an infamous speech condemning Judge Robert Bork as soon as he was announced. The partisan attack helped lead to Bork’s defeat. Kennedy gave a similar speech when Justice David Souter was nominated. Justice Souter turned out to be a vote for the liberal wing of the court. The Kennedy rule many Senate Democrats have lived by states regardless of the person’s record, if he is nominated by a Republican, he must be portrayed as an extremist that would bring back segregation, back-alley abortions, etc.
8. CNN will report fake news. CNN’s legal commentator Jeffrey Toobin has already lost it as Ari Fleischer points out:
7. The Left’s attacks are not limited to unhinged insanity. They also include Religious bigotry.
6. And unbounded hypocrisy:
5. President Trump is reportedly personally interviewing five finalists. David Latt says four of those finalists are:
4. The fifth person is a woman, as President Trump has stated two of the five potential nominees are women. Possibilities include: Margaret Ryan, Joan Larsen, or Allison Eid.
3. While much has been written about the qualifications of Judge Barrett and Judge Kavanaugh, Judge Kethletdge has largely flown under the radar. Here is a great piece by RNLA Board of Governors Member Chuck Cooper on Kethledge.
2. Another potential nominee not receiving as much attention is Judge Thapar. For his appellate nomination, RNLA endorsed Amul Thapar and worked on his judicial confirmation.
1. The "judge whisperer" Leonard Leo of the Federalist Society summed up President Trump's Supreme Court shortlist well: "The list is really good," Leo said, adding, "You can throw a dart at that list and in my view you would be fine."
The RNLA is very excited to support the nominee in the mold of former RNLA Member Justice Neil Gorusch. Stay tuned for more information here and buckle your seat belt for Monday.
