# 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:** 37
**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 14, 2018, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/721 "2018-09-14T15:18:05Z")
Will the Republicans in the Senate take such an allegation seriously (which doesn’t mean necessarily voting against him – just actually considering that this might be a real story from an honest person and seriously investigating it as a personal character issue)? Or will they continue to be the party of abusers and violators of consent, not taking such allegations seriously? I suspect the latter. Will Doper supporters of Kavanaugh advocate taking this allegation seriously, or will they advocate ignoring it? We’ll see. ---
**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 14, 2018, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/722 "2018-09-14T15:28:57Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > [From the New Yorker:](https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/a-sexual-misconduct-allegation-against-the-supreme-court-nominee-brett-kavanaugh-stirs-tension-among-democrats-in-congress) From your link, and this is more along the lines of the discussion I was having with **elucidator** : > [@](#): > > Feinstein’s decision to handle the matter in her own office, without notifying other members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, stirred concern among her Democratic colleagues. For several days, Feinstein declined requests from other Democrats on the Judiciary Committee to share the woman’s letter and other relevant communications. A source familiar with the committee’s activities said that Feinstein’s staff initially conveyed to other Democratic members’ offices that the incident was too distant in the past to merit public discussion, and that Feinstein had “taken care of it.On Wednesday, after media inquiries to the Democratic members multiplied, and concern among congressional colleagues increased, Feinstein agreed to brief the other Democrats on the committee, with no staff present.” ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/723 "2018-09-14T15:31:31Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Will the Republicans in the Senate take such an allegation seriously (which doesn’t mean necessarily voting against him – just actually considering that this might be a real story from an honest person and seriously investigating it as a personal character issue)? Or will they continue to be the party of abusers and violators of consent, not taking such allegations seriously? > > I suspect the latter. Will Doper supporters of Kavanaugh advocate taking this allegation seriously, or will they advocate ignoring it? We’ll see. I suspect Republicans will see this as a “Once you pay the Danegeld, you never get rid of the Dane” thing. Namely, they’ll fear that if they cave in on Kavanaugh because of a sexual-misconduct allegation, that the Democrats will always then use sexual misconduct allegations as an obstructionist tactic to block Republican nominees and candidates. Note that I am NOT saying that this accusation against Kavanaugh is false; however, many Republicans in the MeToo# era are going to think, “First Clarence Thomas, then Trump, then Roy Moore, and now Kavanaugh - it can’t be coincidental that every time a conservative is rising to high office that someone always comes forth with some story about sexual misconduct against him.” ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/724 "2018-09-14T15:35:02Z")
Even before this, my take was that there were too many questions about Kavanaugh to vote on him. Questions about his truthfulness in his previous confirmation hearings, questions about his debt and its sudden disappearance, questions about how far his overturning of Roe would go (he’s referred to birth-control pills as “abortion-inducing drugs” - sounds like he’d uphold a ‘fertilized egg = person’ law and let states outlaw all but barrier contraception), and now this. This is a permanent, lifetime appointment on the highest court in the land. This can’t be undone, barring some unlikely possible future where the Dems have the votes to impeach _and_ remove. Persons with this significant a set of doubts hanging over them shouldn’t be put on the court before they can be resolved one way or the other. The Senate should either take the time to try to resolve these issues, or request that the nomination be withdrawn and a new nomination be made. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/725 "2018-09-14T15:38:22Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I suspect Republicans will see this as a “Once you pay the Danegeld, you never get rid of the Dane” thing. Namely, they’ll fear that if they cave in on Kavanaugh because of a sexual-misconduct allegation, that the Democrats will always then use sexual misconduct allegations as an obstructionist tactic to block Republican nominees and candidates. > Note that I am NOT saying that this accusation against Kavanaugh is false; however, many Republicans in the MeToo# era are going to think, “First Clarence Thomas, then Trump, then Roy Moore, and now Kavanaugh - it can’t be coincidental that every time a conservative is rising to high office that someone always comes forth with some story about sexual misconduct against him.” You mean like the sexual misconduct allegations against Bob Dole (1996), Dubya (2000), Roberts (2005), Alito (2005), McCain (2008), Romney (2012), or Gorsuch (2017)? Yeah, every time. I see what you mean. :rolleyes: ETA: Since you included Roy Moore, I note my omission of the hundreds of GOP Senate candidates since 1991. ---
**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 14, 2018, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/726 "2018-09-14T15:38:58Z")
Per twitter, Grassley just released a signed statement from 65 of Kavanaugh’s high school peers attesting to his personal character and respectful treatment of women. Which means they knew about this allegation all along and had no interest in publicly discussing or investigating it. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/727 "2018-09-14T15:39:01Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Will Doper supporters of Kavanaugh advocate taking this allegation seriously, or will they advocate ignoring it? We’ll see. I for one would advocate ignoring it. Even if the version of events described by the woman is 100% accurate (leaving out Kavanagh’s denial) that would not be a reason to vote against the guy. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/728 "2018-09-14T15:39:14Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > it can’t be coincidental that every time a conservative is rising to high office that someone always comes forth with some story about sexual misconduct against him." Maybe eventually they’ll start to think they shouldn’t be nominating so many sex offenders? If the excuse is “Well, everybody’s done something like that, boys will be boys” etc., that’s a problem in itself and they do need an answer. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/729 "2018-09-14T15:40:31Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > Even if the version of events described by the woman is 100% accurate (leaving out Kavanagh’s denial) that would not be a reason to vote against the guy. What would? ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/730 "2018-09-14T15:50:36Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > What would? something more significant than an anonymous tip without any corroborating evidence? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/731 "2018-09-14T15:51:51Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > Even if the version of events described by the woman is 100% accurate (leaving out Kavanagh’s denial) that would not be a reason to vote against the guy. Yah, who among us guys didn’t go in for a bit of attempted rape back in high school? :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: Seriously, that’s one fucked-up attitude. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/732 "2018-09-14T15:55:26Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > something more significant than an anonymous tip without any corroborating evidence? No, he said, “_Even if the version of events described by the woman is 100% accurate_” it still wouldn’t be a reason to derail Kavanaugh’s nomination. There’s a reasonable argument that an unsupported allegation such as this should be ignored. But if we knew for a fact that this had gone down as the woman described it, AFIAIC the notion that it _still_ shouldn’t be a problem is abominable. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/733 "2018-09-14T15:56:21Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Yah, who among us guys didn’t go in for a bit of attempted rape back in high school? :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: > > Seriously, that’s one fucked-up attitude. A worse fucked-up attitude is your willingness to describe that set of facts as attempted rape. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/734 "2018-09-14T15:59:59Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > A worse fucked-up attitude is your willingness to describe that set of facts as attempted rape. that set of _alleged_ facts. Or perhaps not even _alleged_, since there’s not an actual person making the allegation but someone telling us they heard about it third-hand. Perhaps we should call it “that set of hearsay rumors”? ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/735 "2018-09-14T16:01:13Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > No, he said, “_Even if the version of events described by the woman is 100% accurate_” it still wouldn’t be a reason to derail Kavanaugh’s nomination. Correct. > [@](#): > > But if we knew for a fact that this had gone down as the woman described it, AFIAIC the notion that it _still_ shouldn’t be a problem is abominable. The guy was a teenager at the time and it’s 35 years since then, without more history of this type of behavior. A non-issue, even if it happened exactly as described here. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/736 "2018-09-14T16:02:48Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > A worse fucked-up attitude is your willingness to describe that set of facts as attempted rape. How would you describe the alleged conduct? ETA: She says “he attempted to force himself on her.” Is that not language generally used to describe an attempted rape? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/737 "2018-09-14T16:13:08Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > Correct. > > The guy was a teenager at the time and it’s 35 years since then, without more history of this type of behavior. A non-issue, even if it happened exactly as described here. Fuck that shit. An attempted rape is way outside of normal teen stupidity that gets out of hand. Should it disqualify him from a normal life? No. Should it disqualify him from a position of great consequence, including great consequence to women? Absofuckinglutely. How is a reasonable woman going to have reason to believe he’ll care about the consequences of his decisions as they affect women, when he didn’t care about how forcing himself on a woman would affect that particular woman? ---
**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 14, 2018, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/738 "2018-09-14T16:14:21Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > I for one would advocate ignoring it. > > Even if the version of events described by the woman is 100% accurate (leaving out Kavanagh’s denial) that would not be a reason to vote against the guy. So you have no worries that someone capable of doing that once might have done it more often? And no interest in finding out if there might be other allegations? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/739 "2018-09-14T16:14:46Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > that set of _alleged_ facts. Or perhaps not even _alleged_, since there’s not an actual person making the allegation but someone telling us they heard about it third-hand. Perhaps we should call it “that set of hearsay rumors”? Yeah, we know. You’re butting in on a discussion where we’re assuming strictly _arguendo_ that these allegations are true, to remind us that they’re just allegations. Brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/740 "2018-09-14T16:20:21Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > What would? At the absolute minimum, things he did as an adult. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733.md?page=36) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733.md?page=38)