Takeaway on the mainstream conservative right seems to be
1) Both witnesses seemed credible, with exceptions (fear of flying, inconsistent accounts of party attendees, evasiveness about blacking out, yearbook).
2) Democrats played dirty and they can't be allowed to win.
and...
1) Both witnesses seemed credible, with exceptions (fear of flying, inconsistent accounts of party attendees, evasiveness about blacking out, yearbook).
2) Democrats played dirty and they can't be allowed to win.
and...
3) The mostly unspoken fear that further investigation of Dr. Ford's claims would likely kill the nomination.
Moving forward on a vote seems to be a short-sighted political calculation that will have long-lasting effects for the GOP.
Moving forward on a vote seems to be a short-sighted political calculation that will have long-lasting effects for the GOP.
Mark Judge *will* testify before Congress. But he will likely do so before a Democrat-controlled committee next year, with Justice Kavanaugh seated at the Supreme Court.
Does the risk of derailing this nomination because of an FBI or in-depth Congressional investigation outweigh the risk of discovering new, explosive, substantiated allegations later?
Ramming Kavanaugh through now is a bet, a dangerous one, that an aggressive Democratic investigation won't find turn up anything meaningful.
In summary, I think @asymmetricinfo had this right. The smart play is to move forward with a closed session, bipartisan investigation with a defined end-date that doesn't permit Democrats to run out the clock.
I think Jeff Flake did Republicans a big favor today. They can complain about him publicly all they want, but Flake took the bullet. And after the investigation, assuming FBI doesn't turn up anything derogatory, the confirmation vote carries significantly less risk for them.
