I always thought he would be confirmed. Remember, this is the party that gave you Trump so they don’t care about character.
And at 3:52 pm eastern time, Susan Collins confirms it: She will vote for Kavanaugh.
And that means Kavanaugh will be a Supreme Court justice.
— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) October 5, 2018
Collins suggests Christine Blasey Ford has a faulty memory about the sexual assault she suffered
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) October 5, 2018
She's essentially saying that she doesn't believe Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's claim that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her. https://t.co/78E8kYHJyK
— Rebecca Shabad (@RebeccaShabad) October 5, 2018
This is the modern dilemma: found credible but not believable. Comes down to what an accuser has to do to be believed. Do we know? https://t.co/9l173dIDwu
— Christopher C. Cuomo (@ChrisCuomo) October 5, 2018
Susan Collins' framing of multiple aspects of the Blasey Ford affair is just so shamelessly disingenuous that it leaves no doubt that her insistence on FBI inquiry was really about gaining cover to do what she always intended to do anyway.
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) October 5, 2018
This is ridiculous after his partisan testimony:
*everything in my house just thrown out the window* https://t.co/7ZHfrujKNu
— David Dayen (@ddayen) October 5, 2018
That moment when Susan Collins suggests that Brett Kavanaugh might help to restore the divisions in the Supreme Court and you laugh out loud.
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) October 5, 2018
Whelan took one for the team. Made himself look ridiculous in the process, but managed to provide the entire party with a theory of the case. And this party does like its unfounded theories. https://t.co/C6ic1Y7Seh
— Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) October 5, 2018
Not a word about the multiple lies told by Kavanaugh to the Senate, or his partisan diatribe. Just embarrassing by Collins.
— Norman Ornstein (@NormOrnstein) October 5, 2018
Christine Blaisey Ford said she was 100 percent certain that Brett Kavanaugh assaulted her. If you say you found her credible AND vote for Kavanugh, you are full of shit
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) October 5, 2018
I mean Manchin is going to vote with the majority in the final vote… So really this is about Collins… Right?
— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) October 5, 2018
I agree with everything @ElizabethWydra and @FGossGraves say here. Although I never believed Collins was really in play, I did not imagine that she would go “all-in” like this. History will judge this performance harshly. https://t.co/I2rAEGo68M
— Sherrilyn Ifill (@Sifill_LDF) October 5, 2018
You put a sexual predator on the Supreme Court too.
Shut. Up. https://t.co/840h7H2N7a
— Kaili Joy Gray (@KailiJoy) October 5, 2018
From start, @SenatorCollins has signaled support for #Kavanaugh based on a portrait she paints of him unrecognizable not only to opponents but also most supporters. And she ends on that fantastical note "Judge Kavanaugh is more of a centrist than some of his critics maintain."
— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) October 5, 2018
Collins speech is seemingly less about revealing her vote and more about taking advantage of the perceived uncertainty about her position to sell Kavanaugh as a nominee.
— Philip Bump (@pbump) October 5, 2018
In her attacks on "special interest groups" opposing #Kavanaugh @SenatorCollins goes further than just endorsing him, but also leveling a broader GOP attack on left. Not just with her vote, but her words & justification, she has followed Graham's case that tribe should rule. https://t.co/l65LZQ0KGo
— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) October 5, 2018
Exactly, Collins can not have it both ways. https://t.co/2ydS161MAU
— Karine Jean-Pierre (@K_JeanPierre) October 5, 2018
White House quick to send a note of thanks… https://t.co/Ld13n7XiZD
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) October 5, 2018
Collins has also made herself somewhat hostage to whatever Kavanaugh does on the bench over the next couple of years. If there's a controversial 5-4 ruling, her prediction that he'll be a "centrist" could haunt her.
— David Lauter (@DavidLauter) October 5, 2018
The ultimate sign of Susan Collins' bad faith is when she cited David Souter as an example of how progressives may be surprised by how Kavanaugh may rule on abortion. The very infrastructure that pressured Trump to pick Kavanaugh exists in order to prevent any more Souters!
— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) October 5, 2018
How politicians are responding to Sen. Susan Collins' decision to vote yes on Kavanaugh's confirmationhttps://t.co/5eu4kJgkKs
— Axios (@axios) October 5, 2018
Kavanaugh might not be able overturn Roe v Wade, but he will definitely gut it by allowing individual states to effectively ban abortions. When that happens, it will be @SenatorCollins legacy – the woman who took the right to have an abortion from millions of American women.
— Facts Do Matter (@WilDonnelly) October 5, 2018
She went far out on that limb, not only in general portrayal of him as a centrist but specifically insisting he would not threaten abortion rights, ACA, gay rights, presidential accountability, and would be deeply bound by precedent. Lots will happen before 2020 to test that https://t.co/pZzx5S6F1X
— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) October 5, 2018
Susan Collins castigating everyone for opposing the nominee before he was even named, which is, of course what McConnell did immediately after Scalia’s death.
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) October 5, 2018
Susan Collins told reporters "I struggled with it for a long time" and was "disturbed by the allegations." But her speech gave an impassioned defense of Kavanaugh on all levels from his judicial philosophy down to allegations against him, while suggesting Ford may have been used
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) October 5, 2018
Perhaps I missed it, but did Sen. Collins allude at all to Kavanaugh's demeanor and rhetoric when he reappeared at the committee? Seems like a significant omission if she didn't.
— Jeff Greenfield (@greenfield64) October 5, 2018
It gets tougher to portray this as an agonizing journey when it always ends up at the same destination. Might be easier for all to just cut out the hand-wringing in between, or in this case, the fantastical portrait of a #Kavanaugh that only she can see. https://t.co/qeHIyODTtn
— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) October 5, 2018
What you’re hearing from Susan Collins is a helpful reminder that there are few ideological differences between Republicans. Collins, McConnell, Flake, Graham,Trump… very little daylight there beyond style and manners.
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) October 5, 2018
The Republican male Senators could not contain their pleasure with Susan Collins' speech https://t.co/cRLQqSGq6c pic.twitter.com/HRBbv8S9oq
— Sam Stein (@samstein) October 5, 2018
Genuine uncertainty inside Senate GOP/WH per GOP source familiar with nomination process on Collins speech: "We were on the edge of our seats. Signs were good but you never take those for granted until it's announced. We're thinking that it shouldn't have been this close."
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) October 5, 2018
From John McCain's former campaign manager. https://t.co/sZBW1xytOk
— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) October 6, 2018
Collins called for Franken to resign without an ethics hearing and investigation. Her concern for due process and presumption of innocence is a new development https://t.co/ASqpritmUK
— Norman Ornstein (@NormOrnstein) October 6, 2018
Maybe Susan Collins is just a partisan Republican and not some moderate voice of common sense https://t.co/hkTOnFuYXD
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) October 6, 2018
In Opinion
Contributing opinion writer Jennifer Finney Boylan writes of Susan Collins, "In giving him a victory on Judge Kavanaugh, she has emboldened Mr. Trump to continue down the very path she claims to detest." https://t.co/876DRiTZCU
— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 6, 2018
Sad! 