10/5/2018

BRETT KAVANAUGH/ELECTION/GOP/SUPREME COURT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Fox News anchors said Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony was compelling. Republican strategists sent panicked text messages anticipating an electoral disaster. And even some Brett Kavanaugh supporters questioned whether he could rescue his nomination. But as Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court appeared to be crumbling under the weight of sexual assault accusations, President Donald Trump had already become convinced that abandoning the judge would come at too great a cost to his administration and his party’s chances in the midterm elections. The president, according to half a dozen officials and people working on the confirmation, came to the determination that with the midterms rapidly approaching, he needed the Senate to confirm the conservative justice to avoid depressing GOP turnout come November. White House aides and allies conceded that throughout the touch-and-go confirmation battle, they weren’t sure whether Kavanaugh would hold on in the face of the sexual assault allegations and the prevailing #MeToo movement that has swept the country for more than a year. But with Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) coming out in support of Kavanaugh Friday afternoon — giving the judge enough votes to get through — Trump’s gamble to stand with him has conservatives feeling like they narrowly escaped catastrophe.”

Christopher Cadelago, ” How Trump saved Kavanaugh,” Politico, October 5, 2018 6:42 pm