The Kavanaugh SCOTUS nomination is a great example of how the Democrats dig in and fight on everything, even lost causes, whereas Rs give up instantly. The GOP doesn't understand how to make the other side pay a political price for EVERYTHING.
The Dems know they have little chance of stopping Kavanaugh, although it's not impossible. What they CAN do is hysterically smear and slime him to make the GOP victory costly. They made him into a "controversial" nominee overnight.
Much of what the Dems are saying is hilariously overwrought and downright absurd, but don't laugh - they did what they set out to do. Note the wave of stories about how Kavanaugh has the lowest poll numbers of any recent SCOTUS nominee.
The hurricane of Democrat attacks sustained a nonstop flow of bad headlines about Kavanaugh. Sure, you read the story and what they're saying is completely idiotic - OMG HE USED A CREDIT CARD! - but a lot of people don't read the substance of stories critically.
The weight of negative headlines and tweets about Kavanaugh became overwhelming, while it's tough to find any GOOD headlines in the MSM about him. (Seriously, has there been one?) An IMPRESSION was created with only scraps of fact. A million feathers becomes a crushing weight.
Of COURSE the Dems were able to arrange some bad polls for Kavanaugh. How could it be otherwise? Lefty partisans were ready to hate any GOP nominee, and Dem voters are primed to hate anything Trump does. The middle knows little about him except that he's "controversial."
Republican thinking: What's the point of all this, if there is little chance of actually halting the nomination? He'll get on the Court and do great. None of this will matter in a year. His "poll numbers" have little direct bearing on his confirmation if GOP squishes hold firm.
That analysis misses the point that Dems are making Republicans pay a political price for their likely win. They don't worry about alienating voters with hysterics (and of course they know the media won't hold them accountable for that anyway.)
The Dems fight battles like this because in the short term, it makes Republicans bleed a little even when they win the fight. Sure, it fires up the Dem base, but it also builds a narrative about Republicans that seems vaguely disturbing to disengaged moderate voters.
Think of political capital as money. GOP strategy is to spend 0$, let Dems have a $100 win for free, and congratulate themselves for their political thrift. Dems will spend $20 to make the GOP lose $25, or even $21. They know media will never let them spend more than GOP loses.
You'll see what I mean by that soon enough. Even if Kavanaugh sails to confirmation and makes for an outstanding justice, media will never remind you that Dems were shrieking lunatics in their campaign against him, literally denouncing him as "evil."
Long-term, sure, the GOP gets its victory... but the price Dems make them pay is important for denying Republicans the ability to say they enacted the "will of the people" or had a strong consensus behind them. Every GOP win is forever "controversial."
This also gives Dems in shaky seats some cover for votes that could hurt them in midterm elections. And who knows - they MIGHT get lucky and cause him some real trouble. They'll take the gamble every time when the stakes are this high. /end
