The Republicans' Midterm Game
On Thursday, Brett Kavanaugh was questioned by a Senate Judiciary Committee over an alleged sexual assault that happened during his high school years. Kavanaugh is Trump’s second pick for a Supreme Court seat, to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy.
While the committee was in its line of questioning, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, a noted supporter of the Trump administration, delivered an impassioned and angry speech instead of ceding his time to the independent prosecutor Rachel Mitchell, the Republicans’ proxy. In his speech, Graham said that “what [Democrats] want to do, is destroy [Brett Kavanaugh’s] life, hold this seat open, and hope [Democrats] win in 2020.” The Sunday before the hearings, Graham said something very similar, “What am I supposed to do, go ahead and ruin this guy's life based on an accusation?… Unless there's something more, no, I'm not going to ruin Judge Kavanaugh's life over this.”
The issue with Graham’s statement is that, frankly, this is a Supreme Court nomination. Kavanaugh is not facing jail time. To say that this will ruin Kavanaugh’s life completely is irresponsible. Either Graham knows something the public doesn’t (highly unlikely), or he is genuinely scared of not being able to put this Republican candidate into the Supreme Court seat.
That then brings up the question of why Graham is so passionate in his defense, and the answer lies in the midterms. All reasonable signs point to a Democratic wave this November. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez won in New York. The Trump administration has been incompetent in handling almost every major issue it has faced. The American people have finally realized the blatant genericism of the majority white, male, Christian Congress. These all are factors that will be at play in November, and Graham knows this.
This November, Americans will be voting to elect candidates that they know will carry out their own wants and desires. We have to remember that there is no Electoral College for Senators or House Representatives; therefore, it would make sense that Graham and Trump are pushing for Kavanaugh’s approval. The president who has elected not one, but two judges to a lifetime term on the Supreme Court could be seen as a man getting the job done and securing his mark, and the Republican mark, on history.
Graham fears that the Republicans will lose in November and wants to make sure that the Republican ideology isn’t overruled, so he is trying to push for Kavanaugh’s confirmation. It’s why the Republicans refused to allow an FBI investigation into Kavanaugh until Ana Maria Archila and Maria Gallagher confronted Sen. Jeff Flake in an elevator and forced him to ask for an investigation.
It’s why Mitch Mcconnell asked for the investigation to be completed a week from Thursday, so soon after the hearings. The thing Republicans want most right now is to make their mark on this country, before (as it is predicted) the Democrats swoop in November and begin a two-year clash with the White House. The Kavanaugh hearings were very much partisan. Lindsey Graham’s speech is a good example of that.