# Can Democrats actually stop the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 4, 2018, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733 "2018-09-04T12:49:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 238
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4741 "2018-09-28T12:53:43Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Someone on twitter pointed out that this decision is being made by a political body (the Senate) in which a majority represents 18% of the population. Yeah, but the over-represented folks are in Alaska, Wyoming…These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4742 "2018-09-28T12:54:22Z")
as we found out 2x recently to be president you don’t have to win a majority of the vote . Just win in the right states. And BTW I know Clinton did not get 50% either time he ran. But he had the most votes in 92 and 96. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4743 "2018-09-28T13:01:30Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > I thought that the sniffing was perhaps for dramatic effect. Never once saw him wipe his eyes or nose. I did. He used a tissue or handkerchief, I couldn’t tell which. The person questioning him asked if he needed a moment. [Here it is](https://nypost.com/2018/09/27/senate-staffer-dispatched-to-get-kavanaugh-tissues/). ---
**Author:** ![carlb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carlb/32/5930_2.png) [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4744 "2018-09-28T13:04:33Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > IMHO The accusations against Kavanaugh simply don’t hold water. If this thing kept happening, why did she keep attending the parties? Why were there no other witnesses? Why were there no other victims? I find it difficult to believe that not one victim went to the police. And why wait to now? > > We have a man accused of being party (ahem) to mass gang rape **who has been investigated multiple times before earlier appointments and this has never surfaced?** > > Sorry but the accusations don’t add up. I want to address the part I bolded. I’ve seen this line of argument a lot. I suspect that a number of people I went to college with serve fairly high up in the US government. If one of them was being confirmed for a relatively-high-but-not-terribly-public position, there’s every chance in the world that I wouldn’t know about it until I read about it in our alumni magazine or some such. If this were someone I hadn’t seen in the last 30-odd years, I can’t imagine a set of circumstances in which an FBI background check would reach deeply enough to get to me. There would be very little to connect me to this person except our college (which would make me one of 7,000 or so other contemporaneous alums), and probably 2nd- or 3rd-degree friendship connections. There’d be no reason for the FBI to contact me. Now, let’s suppose that I thought this person was morally reprehensible, and that I had been witness to (or even a victim of) some horrible deed that they had perpetrated. Let us further suppose that I might have told some people about it at the time, but I had no written records of the event, and very little corroboration for my story. I can easily imagine reading about this person becoming, say, a federal judge and thinking to myself, “damn, that guy’s scum. He shouldn’t be a judge,” and going no further with my story. Why would I? I can’t imagine Congress would take up impeachment hearings based solely on the recollections of a fellow college attendee from 30 years ago. But. If I then heard _ **ahead of time** _ that this person was being considered for a higher position, that might change my calculus. I might consider that, rather than asking Congress to impeach someone, I might be able to influence one or two Senators to merely not promote this person. I might now have an opportunity to get my story out in such a way as to actually have an impact on the process. Hell, I can even imagine having buried my memories enough that I didn’t even think of this person for 30-odd years _until_ they cropped up in said alumni magazine or in the news. Granted, I have never undergone anything as extreme as an attempted rape, but it doesn’t seem out of the question that someone might simply shove consideration of their attacker off into the “I Just Don’t Want to Think About It” part of their mind until something dredges it up. You know. Like their nomination to the highest court of the land. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4745 "2018-09-28T13:05:32Z")
Having slept on it, I still cannot believe how Kavanaugh decided to go in and spout wild conspiracy theories about the Clintons getting revenge or people getting revenge for the Clintons. I realize that conservative folks see that all the time on their news media, but are there no people left in America who are both conservative and who can see how nuts that is? ---
**Author:** ![chaika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chaika/32/405_2.png) [@chaika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaika)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4746 "2018-09-28T13:16:55Z")
Whatever else you can say about the testimony of Ford and Kavanaugh, they provided an absolutely textbook illustration of the different ways men and women are socialized in the US. Ford was soft-spoken and even apologetic. How many times did she say, “I’m sorry”? Of course, she had nothing to apologize for, but social messages about public behavior for women still encourage that sort of behavior. In contrast, Kavanaugh was angry, belligerent, frequently interrupted the senators or spoke over them. When Senator Klobuchar asked him about blackouts, he tried to turn the question back on her, demanding that she also state whether she had ever experienced blackouts. It was wildly inappropriate of him (and he did at least recognize that, or someone advising him recognized it and told him to apologize). Not only did he attempt to take over the role of questioner when he was the one being questioned, he tried to get the senator to reveal personal information that he had no right to ask about. And she had just revealed that her father was a recovering alcoholic, so most ordinary human beings might realize the subject of drinking might be a sensitive one for her. It is particularly telling that this moment, one of the nastiest and most revealing about Kavanaugh IMO, was directed against a woman. Men and women still are expected to behave in culturally approved ways. I can’t imagine the roles being reversed, with Ford appearing angry and combative while Kavanaugh was quiet and humble. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4747 "2018-09-28T13:17:23Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Someone on twitter pointed out that this decision is being made by a political body (the Senate) in which a majority represents 18% of the population. And? What % of the American people should a Senate Committee represent? You can consider me as “someone on a MB” when I point out that the full Senate has to vote on his actual confirmation and they represent 100% of the population eligible to vote for Senators. That is, those who chose to vote. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4748 "2018-09-28T13:17:52Z")
CNN is reporting the GOP currently does not have the votes to confirm Kav. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4749 "2018-09-28T13:18:01Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > Having slept on it, I still cannot believe how Kavanaugh decided to go in and spout wild conspiracy theories about the Clintons getting revenge or people getting revenge for the Clintons. > > I realize that conservative folks see that all the time on their news media, but are there no people left in America who are both conservative and who can see how nuts that is? This. In spades. Really, that alone should be disqualifying. But the Republican Party is really telling us who they are. Yesterday, Kavanaugh lied repeatedly, embraced blatantly partisan memes and nutso conspiracy theories, yelled at everyone and went off on unhinged rants, and his response to Sen. Klobuchar demonstrated the sort of naked cruelty that made the sexual assault accusations against him even more believable. And from the looks of it, his performance yesterday strengthened his support within the party. This is who they are. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4750 "2018-09-28T13:22:18Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > And? What % of the American people should a Senate Committee represent? You can consider me as “someone on a MB” when I point out that the full Senate has to vote on his actual confirmation and they represent 100% of the population eligible to vote for Senators. That is, those who chose to vote. You misunderstand – 18% of the population is represented by 51 Senators. I’m talking about the entire Senate, not just the committee. Yes, it’s in the Constitution (not the 18% part, but that each state gets 2 Senators, and thus tiny states have the same power in the Senate as huge states). But just because it’s in the Constitution doesn’t mean it’s not fucked up. That’s a fucked up thing about our system, and we should change our system to be less fucked up in that way. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4751 "2018-09-28T13:22:49Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > Having slept on it, I still cannot believe how Kavanaugh decided to go in and spout wild conspiracy theories about the Clintons getting revenge or people getting revenge for the Clintons. > > I realize that conservative folks see that all the time on their news media, but are there no people left in America who are both conservative and who can see how nuts that is? Tribal Trumpism has nothing to do with conservatism. There are no conservatives left in the Trumpist Party. No one worried about deficit spending and the debt, no one championing free trade, no outcry when Trump vilifies our allies and cozies up to autocrats and our adversaries. No one who supports Trump, his policies or his nominees can also claim to be a conservative. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4752 "2018-09-28T13:23:19Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > CNN is reporting the GOP currently does not have the votes to confirm Kav. No shit? Do you have a link? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4753 "2018-09-28T13:24:26Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > And? What % of the American people should a Senate Committee represent? You can consider me as “someone on a MB” when I point out that the full Senate has to vote on his actual confirmation and they represent 100% of the population eligible to vote for Senators. That is, those who chose to vote. Missed the edit window. Sorry. Thought you were talking about the Committee, but I see you said “The Senate”. My bad. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4754 "2018-09-28T13:24:56Z")
I thought Rachel Mitchell’s questioning of Kav, right before the Republicans quit using her as their mouthpiece, hasn’t gotten enough attention. Did y’all peep how she brought up the July 1 gathering noted on Kav’s calendar? Internet slueths have been saying this entry is of interest because it puts Kav, Judge, and PJ together; Chris “Squi” Garrett is also mentioned. She very casually asked him about it and he said nothing that would preclude this from being the party Ford attended. Then she asked if he’s aware that Maryland doesn’t have SoL for sexual assault accusations. If that wasn’t a signal to Ford that she needs to file a report, I don’t know what is. I also noticed that, in contrast to her demeanor with Ford, she was serious and flat with him. No self-deprecating remarks, no earnest smiles. She was all business with him. None of this should be surprising since she is a prosecutor, but how in the hell did the Republicans miscalculate so badly? It was almost as if she was working for the Dems. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4755 "2018-09-28T13:25:40Z")
Linky: > **[Live: Brett Kavanaugh nomination faces delay](https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/kavanaugh-senate-committee-vote/index.html)** > > A Senate committee voted to send Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination to the floor after Sen. Jeff Flake announced he'd only support it after an FBI investigation. Follow here for the latest. > [@](#): > > Senate Republicans, with the strong support of the White House, are pushing forward with Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination. > > However, they do not currently have the votes to confirm him, per multiple senior aides and senators. But GOP leaders see a path to the 50 votes needed to confirm Kavanaugh, so they’re going to gamble with a damaged nominee viscerally opposed by Democrats. > > The Bottom line: GOP leaders have 48 solid yes votes. They need two more to guarantee Kavanaugh’s confirmation (with Vice President Mike Pence breaking a 50-50 tie.) > > There are three Republicans and three Democrats who are very much in play to be yes votes. All could eventually come on board. But notably: aides have made clear none of those six have made any commitments yet on how they will vote. Republican leaders are quite literally in the dark at this moment. > > Here are the six undecided senators we’re watching: > > Republican Sen. Susan Collins > Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski > Republican Sen. Jeff Flake > Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin > Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp > Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly I’m slightly less pessimistic than I was 5 minutes ago. They’ll still probably get 2 of those, but we’ll see. I hope at least 5 of those Senators have some decency. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Smashy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Mr\_Smashy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Smashy)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4756 "2018-09-28T13:26:27Z")
The Democrats are crying about an FBI investigation, but they can only blame themselves. Why did DiFi hold the letter? Was it because it wasn’t credible? Or maybe she planned a last minute sandbag attack. Either way, it looks bad. All they want to do is obstruct and delay. Pure politics. How sad, and lowly, the Democrats have become. There is a silver lining, they’ve certainly fired up the GOP base for November. The libs were already fired up, so there wasn’t really much more anger they could squeeze out of the kitty-cat hat crowd. PS it also appears that either the Dems or Ford’s lawyers never told her that she could have avoided that hearing, like she stated she would have preferred. The committee was told she was afraid to fly - that story was blown out of the water early on. So they victimized Ford again so they could use her as a prop. How Dem of them. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Smashy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Mr\_Smashy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Smashy)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4757 "2018-09-28T13:28:19Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Linky: > > [https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/kavanaugh-senate-committee-vote/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/kavanaugh-senate-committee-vote/index.html) > > I’m slightly less pessimistic than I was 5 minutes ago. They’ll still probably get 2 of those, but we’ll see. I hope at least 5 of those Senators has some decency. Jeff Flake now reported to vote for Kavanugh ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4758 "2018-09-28T13:30:17Z")
> [@Mr\_Smashy](#): > > The Democrats are crying about an FBI investigation, but they can only blame themselves. Why did DiFi hold the letter? Was it because it wasn’t credible? Or maybe she planned a last minute sandbag attack. Either way, it looks bad. > > All they want to do is obstruct and delay. Pure politics. How sad, and lowly, the Democrats have become. There is a silver lining, they’ve certainly fired up the GOP base for November. The libs were already fired up, so there wasn’t really much more anger they could squeeze out of the kitty-cat hat crowd. > > PS it also appears that either the Dems or Ford’s lawyers never told her that she could have avoided that hearing, like she stated she would have preferred. The committee was told she was afraid to fly - that story was blown out of the water early on. So they victimized Ford again so they could use her as a prop. How Dem of them. You got it. Vote in a possible attempted rapist – that will show the Democrats! Put possible sexual predators on the SCOTUS to own the libs! WINNING! ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4759 "2018-09-28T13:31:10Z")
> [@Mr\_Smashy](#): > > The Democrats are crying about an FBI investigation, but they can only blame themselves. Why did DiFi hold the letter? Was it because it wasn’t credible? Or maybe she planned a last minute sandbag attack. Either way, it looks bad. Serious question: you are at work and you receive an allegation of serious wrongdoing. But, the accuser insists that they must remain anonymous. They also insist that the allegation not be made public. Would you ignore that request for anonymity? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4760 "2018-09-28T13:33:48Z")
> [@Mr\_Smashy](#): > > The Democrats are crying about an FBI investigation, but they can only blame themselves. Why did DiFi hold the letter? Was it because it wasn’t credible? Or maybe she planned a last minute sandbag attack. Either way, it looks bad. Oh, fuck that partisan shit. This is about putting someone on the highest court in the land. It should be about doing what’s right for “we, the people.” And if you think that a proper investigation shouldn’t be done because of what DiFi did or didn’t do with that letter, then you’re saying it’s all a fucking\*\* game\*\*. I have nothing but contempt for that sort of attitude. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733.md?page=237) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733.md?page=239)