ABORTION/DEMS/NOMINATIONS/SUPREME COURT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Even before Justice Anthony M. Kennedy announced his retirement, Judicial Crisis Network, a conservative advocacy group, had reserved more than two dozen internet domain names — one for each candidate on President Trump’s list of potential Supreme Court nominees. The idea, said Carrie Severino, the group’s chief counsel, was to create a website template: ‘ConfirmBlank.com.’ Now, President Trump has filled in the blank with the name of Brett M. Kavanaugh. ConfirmKavanaugh.com is live, and Judicial Crisis Network is already running advertisements. Over the next few months, it expects to spend more than $10 million to promote Judge Kavanaugh — part of a battle royale between conservative and liberal interest groups that will last all summer and into fall, costing tens of millions of dollars. Washington has seen its fair share of brutal Supreme Court confirmation fights; the days of bipartisan confirmations of the sort experienced by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — whose nomination was approved by a 96-to-3 vote — are long gone. But at a time when the United States is so polarized, and the ideological balance of the court is on the line, advocates and allies of both parties are expecting an even more intense and expensive battle.”
-Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Jonathan Martin, “Conservative and Liberal Groups Gird for Battle Over Kavanaugh,” The New York Times online, July 10, 2018