Thread by @NGrossman81

I doubt Kavanaugh hearings radicalized any conservatives.
I know some say it, and they might even believe it, but they were already radicalized, or (most likely) are partisans looking for an excuse.
As with drug addicts, outside observers can see what's really going on.
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Kavanaugh was perfect for conservatives who don't particularly like Trump, but mostly despise Democrats and the mainstream media.
It was the ultimate anti-anti- moment, the first time in two years they could rally to the partisan flag without having to directly defend Trump.
2/x

Only a GOP partisan could have lived through the Roberts, Alito, and Gorsuch confirmations and still conclude that accusations against Kavanaugh must be because a Republican nominated him rather than consider that it might have something to do with Kavanaugh personally.
3/x

Only a partisan could see pushing through Kavanaugh, SCOTUS legitimacy be damned, as better than replacing him with a qualified, easy-to-confirm conservative judge, such as Amy Coney Barrett
You'd have to think the partisan fight alone is self-justifying (as quite a few do).
4/x

I buy that the already-radicalized felt validated.
I buy that partisan warriors loved feeling the pure rush of an old-school judicial battle after subsisting for 2 years on Trump-tainted supply.
But I don't buy that it turned average right-leaning Americans into radicals.
5/x

This doesn't mean Dems weren't being partisan. Of course they were. Nor that some accusations weren't nonsense (hi, Avenatti).
But if opposing that was your top consideration when it comes to Supreme Court noms, rather than the Court itself, you were already deeply partisan.
6/x

Many who claim Kavanaugh hearings radicalized and united conservatives predicted it would lead to GOP victory in the midterms.
That didn't happen.
Evidence indicates that if Kavanaugh radicalized anyone, it was centrist and left-leaning women, who in 2018 voted Dem in droves.
7/x

Radicalization is a process. Indicates substantial change.
Most of the conservatives claiming the Kavanaugh hearings radicalized them didn't change. They were GOP partisans who hated Dems and the media before, and they were GOP partisans who hated Dems and the media after.
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