@SenatorCollins, @lisamurkowski and @JeffFlake: you do *not* have to wait. You could stop this right now. Today. 1/
Schedule a press conference. The three of you. Say you simply cannot vote in favor of a candidate this divisive. Say you deplore what this nomination has done to all of us, and that you refuse to support it any further. /2
You don’t have to call Brett Kavanaugh a rapist. You don’t even have to touch that. He’s lied. He’s misled the committee and the Senate as a whole. His continued status as a nominee is damaging the court, the Senate, the Presidency and the country. /3
Say you’re done. Say you’ll vote no. And this will be done. /4
Mitch McConnell will cuss you out. So will Lindsey Graham. So will Donald Trump. /5
Guess what? They’re *already* cussing you out. They don’t support you. And they won’t support you later. You *know* this. /6
You want to court Donald Trump because you’re afraid of his base? Take a look at Ted Cruz. Take a look at Lindsey Graham. Want to see those faces in the mirror now? Do your constituents want representatives like those? /7
You’ll take some hits. But no more than you’re already taking, and you’ll gain some modicum of credibility with the clear majority of us who want this to stop. /8
Within a week, the GOP will have a new nominee. People like me will probably oppose them in ideological grounds. But you’ll probably still be able to vote for them with a clean conscience. /9
But if it’s now the position of the GOP that they simply can’t find a conservative jurist who’s not accused of sexual assault or does not have to lie to get confirmed by the Senate . . . /10
Maybe it’s time to start thinking about the foul well they’re dropping their bucket into to find these guys. /11
Either way, you should insist, for the good of the country, that Kavanaugh withdraw, and make your party come back with somebody you can vote for without having to go to confession afterwards. 12/12.
