Brett Kavanaugh has 'the Force' with him, for now
"Brett Kavanaugh is a direct threat to our civil and human rights and is unfit to serve on our nation's highest court," said Vanita Gupta, head of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, in a statement. "Like President Trump, he would protect the rights of the wealthy and powerful over the rights of all -- a fact verified by his prominence on Trump's vaunted short list of potential nominees."
Nothing personal, you understand. This fight is strictly business as the left presses Democratic senators to vigorously oppose this nomination. As much as he is vilified on the left, Kavanaugh is praised on the right. If the Democrats can't beat the Senate's Republican majority, at least they're trying to stall the nomination, a senatorial version of "freezing the ball" in the NBA, as the Dems try to build support for the left in upcoming elections.
Kavanaugh's positions in favor of robust executive power and his history in partisan political battles, including independent counsel Kenneth Starr's investigations into President Bill Clinton, are expected to take center stage in the coming battle.
But his roll-back-the-clock positions on civil rights and gender equality issues, have special significance in these polarized time. They could help to provoke the sort of turnout among women and African-American voters, in particular, that Hillary Clinton failed to produce in key states in 2016, despite winning the popular vote.
It's about time, say their allies. A big reason why Democrats have lost Congress, the White House and most state governments is their failure to organize grassroots around energizing social issues as much as the right has done.
Democratic voters have not prized Supreme Court appointments nearly as much as Republicans have in the decades since President Ronald Reagan's era, when abortion rights and the religious right rose as contentious political forces.
Now stunned by Kennedy's unexpected departure, although an 81-year-old man's retirement shouldn't be all that surprising, the Dems hope the fight over his seat will awaken apathetic voters on the left. The more of a menace Kavanaugh appears to be, the better Democrats see their chances.
That's a battle scene that the rising star does not appear to relish, but he's ready for it. For now, politically speaking, the Force is with him. But there are more episodes to come.
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(E-mail Clarence Page at cpage@chicagotribune.com.)
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