The Kavanaugh war

Rejuvenated GOP rediscovers unity

On the Senate floor, Susan Collins stood alone. And she stood tall. The Maine Republican’s floor speech announcing her vote for Brett Kavanaugh systematically dismantled every Democratic attack on the new Supreme Court justice and made a convincing case in favor of President Donald Trump’s highly qualified nominee. If you see a commentator claiming to be a “Republican” or “conservative” strategist supporting the liberal mob on this one, understand that they don’t represent conservatives or the Republican Party any longer. More than any other issue in the Trump era, Kavanaugh will be remembered as the “whose side are you on?” moment. And it was the “moderate” or establishment wing of the GOP that manned the front lines. Aside from Collins: Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a conservative target for being pro-immigration reform, rallied the faithful in his rousing committee speech. Chuck Grassley, whom some conservatives wanted to dethrone as Judiciary Committee chairman in 2016, managed the process beautifully despite the unprecedented circus thrust upon his committee. Former President George W. Bush offered an assist, lobbing in calls to Collins and other Senate Republicans to reassure them about Kavanaugh. Then there’s “Cocaine Mitch” McConnell, so smeared by a losing Senate candidate whom he opposed in West Virginia. McConnell’s steely leadership in a Senate that stands on a razor’s edge has erased any possibility that a Republican could ever again credibly challenge his conservative bona fides. He has simultaneously fought the dumbest elements of the Tea Party and the Democratic Party for going on eight years, and he has bested both. Even though the mob was beaten back this time, it will return more rageful and bloodthirsty than ever. Democrats will make Trump and Kavanaugh an impeachment double feature should they win the House. Democrats may plunge the nation into any number of constitutional crises to satisfy a liberal base that has never accepted that elections have consequences. Their Trump-era overreaches have been muted because they are the minority party in Congress. Put them in charge, and there’s nothing stopping liberal Democrats from using their power to destroy any American that stands between them and their political goals. The narrowly won 50-48 Kavanaugh fight has injected energy and camaraderie into a GOP suffering from complacency and discord. Rejuvenated conservatives have been reminded about what’s at stake, and to what depraved depths the liberal mob will sink to win.

Scott Jennings, a former special assistant to President George W. Bush and former campaign adviser to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, is a partner with RunSwitch Public Relations in Louisville, Kentucky.