Kavanaugh: An Easy Vote
KIMBERLEY A. STRASSEL OCTOBER 04, 2018
True, by using some of the most vicious, ruthless and soulless tactics ever seen in Washington, the left has managed to escalate this moment. But step back, wipe the mud from your eyes, and view this nomination again with 20/20 vision. It’s an easy vote.
Judge Kavanaugh is one of the most respected jurists in the country, with 12 years and hundreds of opinions on the nation’s pre-eminent court of appeals. He has served his country ably and with distinction for decades. He is the definition of a bright, solid conservative jurist, a natural pick for any Republican president—a George W. Bush, a John McCain, a Mitt Romney. Voting for a stellar judge universally praised across the establishment? Easy.
Senators should remember that he was chosen in part for these specific credentials—to spare more-moderate Republicans the debates over abortion and other touchy subjects that might have accompanied different nominees. The entire process has been marked by deference to those moderates—from White House pre-nomination consultations to a rock-solid confirmation process that was the most transparent in history.
Judge Kavanaugh endured 31 hours of initial hearings and answered nearly 1,300 subsequent written questions. He met 65 senators. The Judiciary Committee made available to senators thousands of documents spanning his career in government service. All this was done to ensure an orderly, thorough and honest process. Voting for a man who has been more thoroughly vetted than any nominee in history? Easy.
Republicans can also point to a fair and exhaustive examination of the ugly allegations lodged at the last minute against the nominee. Christine Blasey Ford’s claims were immediately investigated by the Judiciary Committee. She was provided a hearing and treated with utmost courtesy. At senators’ requests, the vote was delayed and the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted a seventh Kavanaugh background check, this one into the claims of Ms. Ford and Deborah Ramirez. The resulting report confirms the allegations are entirely uncorroborated, and the people the accusers claim were present deny any knowledge of the purported events. Voting for a man who is innocent under any standard of due process? Easy.
The new claim that Judge Kavanaugh lacks the “temperament” to sit on the court is likewise untethered from reality. When he appeared at last week’s hearing, he was not testifying in his capacity as a judge, a federal employee or even a lawyer. He was testifying as a human being—one falsely accused by Senate Democrats of gang rape. Of course he was indignant. But whatever his reaction, it bears no relation to his
judicial temperament, to how he conducts himself on the bench. On that score his record is beyond reproach. The ABA interviewed hundreds of people about him and reported: “Lawyers and judges overwhelmingly praised Judge Kavanaugh’s judicial temperament.” Voting for a man who is described in that report as “honest,” “humble,” “open-minded,” “decent” and “fair”? Easy.
Politically, too, this is easy. Republican voters are furious about the treatment of Judge Kavanaugh and want him confirmed. An NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll this week showed the Democratic “enthusiasm” edge in the midterms has evaporated. As many Republicans as Democrats now say this election is “very important”—which directly ties to the Kavanaugh battle. Recent polls show Democratic senators from red states who have declared against Judge Kavanaugh to be in growing political peril—from North Dakota’s Heidi Heitkamp to Missouri’s Claire McCaskill to Montana’s Jon Tester. Any Republican who votes against this judge puts himself in the same camp as Dianne Feinstein, Kamala Harris and Cory Booker, and risks turning that voter wrath onto themselves.
Don’t tell the “resistance,” but the hard vote to defend would be a “no.” That’s the vote that would legitimize these shameful tactics and guarantee similar gruesome treatment for future nominees. That’s the vote that turns #MeToo into #MeCarthyism. It’s the vote that potentially removes Judge Kavanaugh from even his existing position, as Democrats pursue perjury charges and impeachment. A “no” is a vote against every value Republican senators claim to hold dear—due process, the presumption of innocence, civility, conservative jurisprudence, the Senate’s solemn role in advice and consent.
Democrats want Republicans to fear this vote. Republicans should embrace it. Because it is the right thing to do, and because the Supreme Court rulings that will come with a Justice Kavanaugh will serve as a point of pride for decades to come.
Write to kim@wsj.com.
Appeared in the October 5, 2018, print edition.
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