Do you think Judge Kavanaugh will be confirmed in spite of all the Democrats can do? When I talk about Democrats here, I don't mean our friends here like @Bill Boggs and any others who are Democrats. I mean those that head the Democrat party in Washington. Also the nutcases who are blocking Senators in elevators and releasing their address and phone numbers on Wikipedia.
We'll see, @Shirley Martin. The fracas has done Republicans running against Democrats a good turn in general. Polls that were even or had the Dems winning are now tilting the other way. No telling if that is a permanent trend or if it will tilt the other way. If the likes of Collins, Flake and Murkowski turn their backs on him, the Republicans will look like fools as a group. If Kavanaugh is confirmed, it will be a good thing for all Republicans in Congress, regardless of what house they are in. The polls have Republicans losing a seat in the House, but gaining as many as 5 in the Senate. We'll see.... If the Democrats in te Senate suceed in defeating theis nomination, it will guarantee that we will see this kind of behavior forever as it will be seen as a reward for their efforts.
It's hard to know what's going to happen in the midterms because even to the extent that polls might be able to accurately measure such things, most of them are intended to influence the vote rather than to predict it. I know that there will always be some, actually quite a few, who refuse to see through it, but I can't help but think that anyone who has been paying attention would see through what's been going on with the Senate vote on Kavanaugh, and worry about this becoming the norm. There are, I know, Democrats who are quite aware that their side has been playing unfairly, although they might approve of it, believing that the end justifies the means. Here in Maine, we only have two federal seats open, and only one of them is in play. The Republican, Bruce Poliquin, who occupies a US House seat, is a political coward who, like Paul Ryan, never passes up an opportunity to criticize President Trump. During the 2016 presidential election, he distanced himself from Trump except to get a dig in whenever the opportunity presented itself, as he does now. A lot of Republicans, including myself, are sick of him. Taking advantage of that, the Democrats are sinking a lot of money into his opponent, a recent military veteran who makes a point of pointing out that he was a veteran in every ad that I have seen, and has put out professionally done ads showing him shooting a rifle. Although he has consistently voted for gun control as a state legislator and has F and D ratings from gun rights organizations, I am afraid that people who aren't paying attention might take him for being something other than the liberal he is. I don't think the US Senate seat is really in play. Angus King, a two-term former governor, is the incumbent. Although registered as an Independent, he votes solidly with the Democrats. The Democrat Party doesn't spend anything on his Democrat opponent because, for all practical purposes, King is a Democrat. His Republican opponent is carpetbagger who came here from Ohio during the 2012 Ron Paul campaign. His dad, who owns a good business in Ohio, bought him a state senate seat and financed a successful lawsuit that removed his only primary opponent from the ballot. I know him well enough to know that he's an opportunist whose only ideal would be to remain in power if he were to be elected. It's unlikely that he will be, however. Although a Democrat at heart, King is personable and generally well-liked by people who don't pay attention to his votes. If I stop by his office in Washington DC, he'll see me if he's available, despite the fact that he knows full well that I didn't vote for him. Plus, he sat with us a few times while we were attending the same dinners. He's a likeable guy. In contrast, his Republican opponent blocks anyone who disagrees with him on anything on Facebook and would never talk to anyone who wasn't on his team. A lot of Republicans will vote for him because of the "R" after his name, but Republicans aren't the majority in Maine. For that matter, our Republican Senator Collins would never waste a moment on anyone who isn't contributing heavily to her campaign. Usually, incumbents win. I doubt that King will lose but there is a chance the Poliquin could lose due to his own political cowardice and the fact that he's being outspent by the Democrats. So I can see Maine losing a GOP House seat and it's highly unlikely we'll pick any seats up here. It would be less confusing if Susan Collins changed parties. Overall though, I think it's looking good for the Republicans if Kavanaugh is confirmed. Democrats up for reelection in conservative states could be threatened however they vote on Kavanaugh because they will lose conservatives in a no vote and liberals if they vote yes. However, if Kavanaugh loses due to Republicans voting no, that would energize the Democrats and greatly demoralize Republicans, who may see no reason to ensure a majority in 2018.
I'm also curious to see what happens in the midterm elections. IMO people are becoming so frustrated with the current Washington crowd that they will vote for fresh faces without much concern over party affiliation or they will stay home and not bother voting at all. We'll see.
For any following the Qanon stuff, it was predicted awhile ago that Kavanaugh would be confirmed, and according to this guy () it appears to be gonna happen, so I'm starting to take this stuff a bit more seriously.
VOTED TO ADVANCE KAVANUGH FOR CONFIRMATION Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyoming Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Missouri Sen. John Boozman, R-Arkansas Sen. Richard Burr, R-North Carolina Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-West Virginia Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tennessee Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas Sen. Steve Daines, R-Montana Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyoming Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Nebraska Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Arizona Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colorado Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nevada Sen. John Hoeven, R-North Dakota Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Mississippi Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Oklahoma Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Georgia Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin Sen. John Kennedy, R-Louisiana Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Arizona Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky Sen. David Perdue, R-Georgia Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kansas Sen. Mike Rounds, R-South Dakota Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Nebraska Sen. Tim Scott, R-South Carolina Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Alabama Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska Sen. John Thune, R-South Dakota Sen. Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pennsylvania Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi Sen. Todd Young, R-Indiana VOTED NAY to ADVANCE KAVANUGH CONFIRMATION Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisconsin Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colorado Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut Sen. Cory Booker, D-New Jersey Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Maryland Sen. Tom Carper, D-Delaware Sen. Bob Casey Jr., D-Pennsylvania Sen. Chris Coons, D-Delaware Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nevada Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Indiana Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York Sen. Kamala Harris, D-California Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-New Hampshire Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-New Mexico Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-North Dakota Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii Sen. Doug Jones, D-Alabama Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Virginia Sen. Angus King, I-Maine Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont Sen. Ed Markey, D-Massachusetts Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri Sen. Bob Menendez, D-New Jersey Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Connecticut Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida Sen. Gary Peters, D-Michigan Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-New Hampshire Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minnesota Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Michigan Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana Sen. Tom Udall, D-New Mexico Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Maryland Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon
Sarah Palin: "Hey, Murkowski. I can see 2022 from my window!" Collins has been going on and on for the past twenty minutes, sounding like Columbo explaining how he solved the case, but she sounds like she's going to be a yes.
This picture has been circulating for the last few days, and it really does look like Feinstein is trying hard to intimidate Murkowski.
Yes, that has been circulating up here, too. Planned Parenthood is one of Lisa's biggest political contributors and supporters, so abortion is at the heart of much of what she does. I don't really understand how an organization that receives government funding can be a political contributor to a candidate. One of the callers on a political talk show here (not the host) said, "I hope she is not running on 'baby part money'".
The latest information that I saw in one of the political groups online says that the conversation might have been recorded; so there is speculation that Feinstein may have been caught trying to coerce Murkowski into voting against Kavanaugh. If that is true, and can be proven, then she might be in some hot water for her behavior. If she is indeed being backed and funded by Planned Parenthood, then she probably didn’t need to be coerced into her vote.
Sorry, I put up the wrong one (I had found two versions). This is the better one: https://my.mixtape.moe/sqggko.mp4 And here is likely the cause of them bleary eyes: