Washington, DC - Senate Democrats seek to put up a united front against President Trump’s selection of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to replace Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court. But, political analysts - Democrat and Republican - seem to believe it is a losing battle, says Dan Weber, president of the Association of Mature American Citizens.
“Those opposed to Kavanaugh have sought to convince moderate Republicans Lisa Murkowski of Arkansas and Susan Collins of Maine to vote against his confirmation. But, in recent weeks both Collins and Murkowski have indicated they are comfortable with his nomination. Meanwhile, there are a slew of Red State Democrats who are up for re-election who can take their places if either of them or both have last minute reservations,” according to Weber.
Weber says he is confident that Kavanaugh has enough support to pass muster in the Senate. “Democratic leaders are deceptively and disingenuously attempting to persuade their colleagues otherwise. They are seeking to convince the American people that he is not qualified but his credentials and his career show that he is eminently up to the task.”
A simple majority in the Senate is all that it will take to confirm Kavanaugh’s appointment to the Supreme Court. And, even if Senator John McCain [R-AZ] is unable to travel to Washington for the vote due to ill health, it still leaves Republicans with a 51 to 49 advantage since Vice President Pence would cast the deciding ballot.
It should be noted that not all who call themselves Liberals are opposed to the Kavanaugh selection. Liberal Yale Law School professor Akhil Reed Amar recently published an Opinion Article in the New York Times extolling the virtues of Judge Kavanaugh. It was entitled A Liberal’s Case for Brett Kavanaugh and in it Amar wrote: “The nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to be the next Supreme Court justice is President Trump’s finest hour, his classiest move. Last week the president promised to select ‘someone with impeccable credentials, great intellect, unbiased judgment, and deep reverence for the laws and Constitution of the United States.’ In picking Judge Kavanaugh, he has done just that.”
In addition, there are nine Democrats who are up for reelection in states that voted heavily for President Trump in November 2016 and they risk alienating voters if they go against Kavanaugh. They are Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Doug Jones of Alabama, Bill Nelson of Florida, Jon Tester of Montana, Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin.
“It’s unlikely that all of them will oppose their Democratic Senate colleagues and support Mr. Trump’s pick for the court. It is likely that a few could and would do just that, but I don’t think that enough of them will vote to derail his appointment,” Weber opined.
“The fact is that Kavanaugh is widely considered the best person to succeed Justice Kennedy. Not because he is a conservative, but because he is a thoughtful and honest jurist who has shown that he will protect the Constitution. He is opposed on the left because there are those who would like a more flexible candidate on the Court—someone who would not be bound by the Constitution and who would legislate from the bench. They would like to see a deciding vote on the Supreme Court bench who would enable the progressive elements in America to turn our constitutional republic into a socialist state. That’s not going to happen.”
