Thread by @PalmerReport

If Senate Democrats have any hope of derailing Amy Coney Barrett, they need voters in the middle on board – and that starts by pretending to give her a chance and letting her hang herself. Please stop asking the Democrats to do self-defeating histrionics just so you can enjoy it.

If the Democrats blow their entire wad on day one, it'll just cause people in the middle to ultimately conclude that Barrett is not quite as much of a monster as Democrats said she was, and we'll have no chance of stopping her.

These hearings are not about making your socks roll up and down. They're about winning. And the only possible path to winning this fight doesn't involve histrionic foot stomping right out of the gate. That would only be for your entertainment. Sorry, but this is too important.

So how do we win? Calmly let voters in the middle make up their own mind that Barrett is inappropriate. Have them pressure the most vulnerable republican Senators. Make them realize they'll lose their seats if they go confirm her. As always, this is about math.

This is the ONLY way we stop the nomination. Make Gardner and Collins understand they'll lose in November. Make Murkowski understand she'll lose in 2022. Make Romney understand he'll never be president if he confirms her. And so on. These republicans are cowards. Make them cower.

Remind the most vulnerable GOP senators that McConnell can't save them from us if they vote to confirm. Remind them that McConnell promised Collins he'd protect her if she confirmed Kavanaugh, and now she's about to lose her seat because of it. McConnell doesn't care about them.

Voters in the middle don't care about how "unfair" it is that Merrick Garland wasn't confirmed. They (incorrectly) see that as Obama's failure anyway. You won't get anywhere by talking about Merrick Garland right now. You just won't. You're blowing smoke up your own ass.

You want to get voters in the middle on board with sinking this nomination? Point out how unfair it is for them that THEY don't get to choose the president who will fill the seat. That's what they're going to respond to, not something that happened years ago.

As always, it comes down to this: do you want to whine, or do you want to win? If you just want to whine about Garland or whatever, then you don't want to win. If you're whining about this confirmation process as if it were already a done deal, then you don't want to win.

If you want to win, you'll focus on a strategy similar to the one I've laid out about, that has a chance of actually allowing us to win. If you just want to whine instead, then I don't want to know you.