share more about himself. “The girls on the team call me ‘Coach K,’ ” Kavanaugh noted wryly, jokingly comparing himself to the legendary Duke University basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski. Some of his clerks had urged him to remove the jest, but it was one of a few lines that elicited laughter in the otherwise staid ceremony.
Kavanaugh recognized how effective previous Supreme Court nominee speeches had been. Elena Kagan had depicted herself as the child of immigrants who were the first in their families to go to college.6 Sonia Sotomayor had talked about growing up in a housing project and the importance of taking into account the “real world consequences” of her judicial decisions, echoing President Obama’s call for empathetic judges.7
NBC’s Chuck Todd called Kavanaugh “a very confirmable pick.”8 But his invocations of the women in his life irked the Washington Post’s Aaron Blake, who wrote, “The nominee’s introductory speech was remarkably political. Over and over again, Kavanaugh returned to the women in his life and the diversity of those around him.”9 The following night, Stephen Colbert made fun of his focus on women, calling him a “cover model for Generic Dads Monthly” and mocking his first name.10 The abortion advocacy group NARAL ridiculed Kavanaugh on Twitter as a “frat boy named Brett,” an ominous preview of his opponents’ eventual strategy.11
Blake continued to vent his disapproval in another article, lashing out at Kavanaugh’s statement that “[n]o president has ever consulted more widely, or talked with more people from more backgrounds, to seek input about a Supreme Court nomination,” a claim he dismissed as “thoroughly strange and quite possibly bogus.”12 It is difficult to quantify presidential consultation on Supreme Court appointments, of course, but Kavanaugh knew what he was talking about, and he wasn’t exaggerating. He had seen and read how other administrations had kept deliberations internal. After all, he worked in the White House that nominated Harriet Miers. By all accounts, Trump began his Supreme Court search in the middle of the primaries and sought advice from a variety of individuals and organizations. He talked about it in meetings and even at his rallies. He and his team made sure those on “the list” had been thoroughly vetted, talking to the judges they had clerked for and to their co-clerks and reading their opinions and articles. From Kennedy’s retirement announcement until Sunday’s meeting with Kavanaugh, the president discussed his potential nominees with senators, pundits, friends, and advisers.
Trump closed his introduction of Kavanaugh by saying, “The rule of law is our nation’s proud heritage. It is the cornerstone of our freedom. It is what guarantees equal justice. And the Senate now has the chance to protect this glorious heritage by sending Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court.”13
The numbers in the Senate left no room for error. Some Democrats, such as Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, had announced they would vote against anyone the president nominated.14 The New York Times had instructed Democrats and progressives to “take a page from ‘The Godfather’ and go to the mattresses” on any nomination.15 Immediately after the announcement, the Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer of New York, declared he would “oppose Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination with everything” he had, adding, “If we can successfully block this nomination, it could lead to a more independent, moderate selection that both parties could support.”16 Schumer knew what Republicans also knew—if Kavanaugh’s nomination were scuttled, his replacement would probably be more liberal.
Realistically, very few if any Democrats would consider voting for Kavanaugh. When Trump nominated the eminently qualified Neil Gorsuch, the only Democrats to vote for him were Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, and Joe Manchin of West Virginia. All three represented states that Trump had carried and were facing tough reelection bids in 2018. The other potential Democratic votes were Missouri’s Claire McCaskill, who was also on the ballot in 2018, and Alabama’s Doug Jones, who would have to decide between embracing his liberal roots and moderating to preserve his chance for reelection in 2020.
Republicans held a slim majority of fifty-one to forty-nine in the Senate, made even more tenuous because one Republican was not expected for the eventual vote. Senator John McCain had returned to Arizona months earlier, following his diagnosis of glioblastoma, a rare and aggressive brain cancer. Without McCain, Republicans could not afford to lose a single vote. But the Republican caucus was not a monolith. Senator Rand Paul and others from the libertarian side of the party had reservations about Kavanaugh’s