Evangelical leaders frustrated at GOP caution on Kavanaugh
Worried their chance to cement a conservative majority on the Supreme Court could slip away, many evangelical and anti-abortion leaders are expressing frustration that Senate Republicans and the White House are not protecting Judge Brett Kavanaugh more forcefully from a sexual assault allegation and warning that conservative voters may stay home in November if his nomination falls apart.
Several of these leaders, including ones with close ties to the White House and Senate Republicans, are urging Republicans to move forward with a confirmation vote imminently unless the woman who accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault, Christine Blasey Ford, agrees to share her story with the Senate Judiciary Committee within the next few days.
The pleas are, in part, an attempt to apply political pressure: Some evangelical leaders are warning that religious conservatives may feel little motivation to vote in the midterm elections unless Senate Republicans move the nomination out of committee soon and do more to defend Kavanaugh from what they say is a desperate Democratic ploy to prevent President Donald Trump from filling future court vacancies.
“One of the political costs of failing to confirm Brett Kavanaugh is likely the loss of the United States Senate,” said Ralph Reed, founder of the Faith and Freedom Coalition who is in frequent contact with the White House.
“If Republicans were to fail to defend and confirm such an obviously and eminently qualified and decent nominee,” Reed added, “then it will be very difficult to motivate and energize faith-based and conservative voters in November.”
Evangelist Franklin Graham, one of Trump’s most unwavering defenders, told the Christian Broadcasting Network this week, “I hope the Senate is smarter than this, and they’re not going to let this stop the process from moving forward and confirming this man.”
Social conservatives are already envisioning a worst-case scenario related to Kavanaugh, and they say it is not a remote one. Republican promises to shift the Supreme Court further to the right — which just a few days ago seemed like a fait accompli — have been one of the major reasons conservatives say they are willing to tolerate an otherwise dysfunctional Republican-controlled government. If Kavanaugh’s nomination fails, and recent political history is any guide, voters will most likely point the finger not at Trump but at Republican lawmakers.
The reason the prospect of Kavanaugh’s defeat is so alarming to conservatives is that they fear he could be the last shot at reshaping the court for years. If Republicans were to lose control of the Senate in November, Trump would find it difficult to get anyone confirmed.
Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Dallas and one of Trump’s most vocal evangelical supporters, said he did not know who was telling the truth, Kavanaugh or Blasey.
“But I can say with absolute certainty,” he added, “that the Democrats don’t care who is telling the truth. Their only interest is in delaying and derailing this confirmation.”
In pressing for a quick resolution, conservatives are making a risky bet that the jubilation from their own base over Kavanaugh’s speedy confirmation would outweigh the likely backlash from independent voters they need — especially women.
“The White House is walking a tightrope,” Jeffress said. “They cannot summarily dismiss these allegations and alienate GOP and independent female voters in the midterms. Neither can they abandon a nominee they and their base strongly support.”