memeorandum: Democrats' big miscalculation: Conservative women like me won't abandon Brett Kavanaugh (Stephanie Gutmann/USA Today)

9:45 AM ET, October 5, 2018

Top Items:

Brett M. Kavanaugh / Wall Street Journal:

I Am an Independent, Impartial Judge — Yes, I was emotional last Thursday. I hope everyone can understand I was there as a son, husband and dad. — I was deeply honored to stand at the White House July 9 with my wife, Ashley, and my daughters, Margaret and Liza, to accept President Trump's nomination …

Charles Ludington / Washington Post:

We were Brett Kavanaugh's drinking buddies. We don't think he should be confirmed. — Charles Ludington, Lynne Brookes and Elizabeth Swisher attended Yale University from 1983 to 1987 with Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh. — We were college classmates and drinking buddies with Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, HuffPost, POLITICUSUSA, Mashable, NPR, Raw Story and Mediaite

Wall Street Journal:

Friend of Dr. Ford Felt Pressure to Revisit Statement — At issue is statement to committee that she knew nothing about alleged sexual assault by Brett Kavanaugh. — A friend of Christine Blasey Ford told FBI investigators that she felt pressured by Dr. Ford's allies to revisit …

Washington Post:

Vote ‘no’ on Kavanaugh — AS SENATORS prepare to vote this week on Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh, they, and the rest of the country, must wonder: Which Brett M. Kavanaugh are they evaluating? Is it the steady, conservative jurist he was reputed to be before his confirmation saga?

Discussion: HuffPost, Joe.My.God., Daily Kos, Common Dreams, POLITICUSUSA, Axios, Political Wire, The Atlantic and Conservative News Today

Mike Allen / Axios:

2. “We don't have 50” — Sources involved with Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation were nervous going into today's 10:30 a.m. test vote, Jonathan Swan reports: — Four senators are undecideds: Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.).

Discussion: New York Times and Chicago Sun-Times, more at Techmeme »

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

GOP nervous ahead of Kavanaugh vote: “We don't have 50 right now” — Sources involved with Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation are nervous going into today's 10:30 a.m. test vote. — Four senators are undecideds: Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.).

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, The Week and POLITICUSUSA

Stephanie Gutmann / USA Today:

Democrats' big miscalculation: Conservative women like me won't abandon Brett Kavanaugh — Democrats turned the Supreme Court confirmation process into a campaign ad. But identity politics and “war on women” tropes only push GOP women away. — CONNECT — There are so many of us.

Discussion: National Review

Tal Axelrod / The Hill:

GOP senator may miss Kavanaugh vote for daughter's wedding — A GOP senator may miss a Senate confirmation vote for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh this weekend because his daughter is getting married on Saturday. — Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) will walk his daughter down the aisle …

Discussion: Politico and The Week

New York Times:

How Brett Kavanaugh Failed — And why the Senate should vote to keep him off the Supreme Court. — The editorial board represents the opinions of the board, its editor and the publisher. It is separate from the newsroom and the Op-Ed section. — The nomination of Brett Kavanaugh …

Discussion: Breitbart, Cronkite News, The Resurgent, The Week, Daily Kos, Splinter and CBS San Francisco

David Brooks / New York Times:

A Complete National Disgrace — The Kavanaugh hearings as American nadir. — Over the past few years, hundreds of organizations and thousands of people (myself included) have mobilized to reduce political polarization, encourage civil dialogue and heal national divisions.

Discussion: The Week, Hot Air, Vox and Rewire.News

Lulu Ramadan / mypalmbeachpost:

Retired Supreme Court Justice: Kavanaugh does not belong on high court — Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens on Thursday said that high court nominee Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, who Stevens once lauded in one of his books, does not belong on the Supreme Court.

Kevin Wallevand / WDAY-TV:

EXCLUSIVE: Heitkamp reveals Kavanaugh vote and reasoning to WDAY News — FARGO — U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp will vote NO on U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh's nomination. — Heitkamp sat down exclusively with WDAY News to share what she will do when the U.S. Senate votes …

New York Post: End the farce and confirm Kavanaugh

Aaron Mesmer / FOX13news: Man threatened to kill members of Congress over Kavanaugh votes, deputies say

USA Today: Vote no on Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation

Politico:
GOP leaders all but guarantee Kavanaugh confirmation

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Chicks On The Right, Conservative Intelligence …, New York Times and Breitbart

Bloomberg:
Bloomberg Terminal Demo Request

Discussion: New York Times, HuffPost and The Daily Beast

Elaina Plott / The Atlantic: Mitch McConnell's Legacy Is Riding on Kavanaugh's Confirmation

Salt Lake Tribune:
Tribune editorial: Hatch attack on alleged witness is despicable

Discussion: thenewcivilrightsmovement.com

Christina Cauterucci / Slate: Christine Blasey Ford Changed Everything

Ruth Graham / Slate:
The Kavanaugh Hearings Have Women Fired Up ... to Vote Republican

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, The Week, Washington Post, CNN and The Atlantic

CNN:
Cory Booker says report had “hints of misconduct”

Discussion: Politico, Raw Story and One America News Network

Associated Press:
Sen. Steve Daines will be at daughter's wedding in Montana — Kavanaugh vote or no

Discussion: Townhall, Roll Call, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Wire, Political Wire and KTVQ-TV

Sarah K. Burris / Raw Story:
Trump supporter arrested for threatening to slaughter senators and their families for not supporting Brett Kavanaugh

Discussion: Ledger, skippy the bush kangaroo and The Intellectualist

Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: Kavanaugh inches forward as tensions run high in the Capitol

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, Star Tribune and Wall Street Journal

Barton Swaim / Weekly Standard: In Defense Of Lindsey Graham's Righteous Rage

Ben Terris / Washington Post:

Why is Lindsey Graham acting like this? — Lindsey Graham learned the benefits of acting audaciously at a young age. — As a boy, no older than 6, he hung around his mom and dad's bar in Central, S.C., dressing up as a cowboy and yukking it up with drunks for laughs.

Discussion: Political Wire

Anna Staver / Denver Post:

Colorado's Cory Gardner reviews FBI report on Kavanaugh after listening to sexual assault survivors — A Politico report late Thursday featured a statement that said Gardner “remains supportive of Judge Kavanaugh's nomination.” … Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colorado, hasn't decided how he'll vote …

Discussion: Political Wire

Jeff Cox / CNBC:

Job growth slumps in September, but the unemployment rate hits the lowest level since 1969 — The unemployment rate fell two-tenths of a percentage point to 3.7 percent, the lowest level since December 1969 and one-tenth of a percentage point below expectations.

Discussion: NTK Network

Christopher Rugaber / Associated Press:
US unemployment rate falls to 49-year low of 3.7 percent

Discussion: Daily Caller News Foundation and Wall Street Journal

Jennifer E. Duffy / The Cook Political Report:

Governors: Rating Changes Four States — If political geography is helping Senate Republicans, it isn't doing much for the party's quest to hold their losses in gubernatorial contests to a minimum. There are a handful of races in very red states that have inched from the Likely …

Mike Isaac / New York Times:

Rifts Break Open at Facebook Over Kavanaugh Hearing — SAN FRANCISCO — “I want to apologize,” the Facebook executive wrote last Friday in a note to staff. “I recognize this moment is a deeply painful one — internally and externally.” — The apology came from Joel Kaplan, Facebook's vice president for global public policy.

Discussion: BloombergQuint, TheBlaze, The American Conservative, Mashable and CNBC, more at Techmeme »

Deepa Seetharaman / Wall Street Journal:
Zuckerberg Faces Anger Over Facebook Executive's Kavanaugh Support

Discussion: New York Times, Talking Points Memo, CNBC, The Resurgent, Boing Boing and Daily Caller News Foundation

Quin Hillyer / The American Spectator:

Media Mangles Its Duty to Question Ford — Journalistic malpractice as it's never been malpracticed. — A reasonable, objective, establishment media would have spent far more time than it has in delving into Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's background and credibility, and her veracity under oath …

Discussion: Chicks On The Right, twitchy.com, Geller Report and Breitbart

New York Times:

2018 Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to Congolese Doctor and Yazidi Activist — In the midst of a global reckoning over sexual violence, a Congolese gynecological surgeon and a Yazidi woman who was a captive of the Islamic State were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for their campaigns to end the use of mass rape as a weapon of war.

Discussion: CNN, Common Dreams, Althouse, The Guardian and ImmigrationProf Blog

Chris Baynes / The Independent:

Interpol chief missing: French police launch investigation into President Meng Hongwei's disappearance — Meng Hongwei, 64, has not been heard from since travelling to China in late September — {{#singleComment}}{{value}} comment{{/singleComment}}{{^singleComme nt}}{{value}} comments{{/singleComment}}

Associated Press:

Still Anonymous: White House hunt for op-ed author fades — WASHINGTON (AP) — Remember Anonymous? — One month ago Friday, an unidentified Trump administration official set off a White House firestorm by claiming in a New York Times opinion piece to be part of a secret “resistance” …

BBC:

Girl, 8, pulls a 1,500-year-old sword from a lake in Sweden — An eight-year-old found a pre-Viking-era sword while swimming in a lake in Sweden during the summer. — Saga Vanecek found the relic in the Vidöstern lake while at her family's holiday home in Jönköping County.