memeorandum: The War That Never Ends (Amy Walter/The Cook Political Report)

2:35 PM ET, October 5, 2018

Top Items:

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 …

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 …

Discussion: ABC News, New York Times, Shareblue Media, Washington Monthly, Washington Post, NPR, The Atlantic, The Nation, Politico, CBS News, Daily Wire, Hit & Run, CNBC, The Guardian, KTVQ-TV, Vox, Washington Free Beacon, Raw Story, The Constitution, The Week, alicublog, LifeNews.com, Daily Kos, Just Security, Outside the Beltway, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Washingtonian, CBS Baltimore, Bangor Daily News, Conservative News Today, Joe.My.God., Shakesville, Mashable, Conservative Intelligence …, BloombergQuint, SCOTUSblog, Daily Caller News Foundation, WHYY, Townhall, Common Dreams, The Daily Caller, Chicks On The Right, New Republic, Jamie Dupree - AJC, Jezebel, his vorpal sword, The Right Scoop, Washington Times, LifeZette, Mediaite, KRTV-TV, NTK Network, TheBlaze, Balloon Juice, CBS Philly, mypalmbeachpost, Althouse, Breitbart, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, HuffPost, Law & Crime, AOL, Mother Jones and RedState

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: LifeZette, ThinkProgress, The Intellectualist, Common Dreams, Above the Law, POLITICUSUSA, Hullabaloo, CBS Dallas, Mashable, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, HuffPost, NPR, TheBlaze and Mediaite

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Elizabeth Warren's new, tantalizing claim about Kavanaugh shows what utter madness this is — One of the most infuriating aspects of this whole Kavanaugh saga is the degree to which we are flying blind about some of the most fundamental points of disagreement at its core.

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, Political Wire and Areo

Washington Post:

Senate votes 51 to 49 to advance Kavanaugh nomination to the Supreme Court — The Senate advanced Brett M. Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination in a key procedual vote Friday morning, putting him one step closer to confirmation and ending a deeply partisan and rancorous fight.

Discussion: New Republic, CNN, ABC News, TheBlaze, The Root, Balloon Juice, Townhall, Patterico's Pontifications and Vox

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: Joe.My.God., Raw Story, Daily Wire and New York Times, more at Techmeme »

Wall Street Journal:

Murkowski: Kavanaugh a Good Man But ‘Not the Best Man for the Court at This Time’ — GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska told reporters that she had been wrestling with her decision before she voted against advancing Judge Kavanaugh on Friday. — “I believe we are dealing with issues …

Discussion: Power Line, Hot Air, The Daily Beast, The Other McCain and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

The Daily Beast:

Top Dem Super PAC Backs Away From Phil Bredesen for Backing Kavanaugh — One of the top Democratic aligned super PACs says it will no longer consider helping Democratic candidate Phil Bredesen in Tennessee's Senate race after Bredesen announced his support for Judge Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court.

Discussion: Townhall, Washington Post and Raw Story

John Bresnahan / Politico:
Flake support puts Kavanaugh on cusp of confirmation

Discussion: CNN, Axios, Conservative News Today, Daily Kos, Common Dreams, VICE, The Week and Outside the Beltway

Jonathan Swan / Axios:
GOP nervous ahead of Kavanaugh vote: “We don't have 50 right now”

Discussion: The Hill, Outside the Beltway, The Intellectualist, No More Mister Nice Blog, Politico, New York Times, The Week, POLITICUSUSA and WDAY-TV

Brett Molina / USA Today:
Republican Sen. Steve Daines will be at daughter's wedding Saturday, same day Senate may vote on Kavanaugh

Discussion: National Review, JustOneMinute, CNN, Hit & Run and KTVQ-TV

Washington Post:
Vote ‘no’ on Kavanaugh — AS SENATORS prepare to vote this week …

Discussion: USA Today, HuffPost, Shareblue Media, RedState, Metro Weekly, Joe.My.God., Daily Kos, The Constitution, New York Times, POLITICUSUSA, Common Dreams, Axios, Political Wire and The Atlantic

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
GOP confident Collins will back Kavanaugh

Discussion: CNBC and IJR

Gregg Nunziata / New York Post: FBI's Kavanaugh investigation was by the book — just like Democrats demanded

Wall Street Journal:
Bar Association's Standing Committee on Federal Judiciary Reopens Evaluation of Kavanaugh

Discussion: Raw Story, The Resurgent, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Daily Wire

Wall Street Journal:
Senators Prepare for Kavanaugh Vote, With GOP Confident

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Erica Y King / ABC News:
Kavanaugh latest: Senate narrowly advances Kavanaugh confirmation to a final vote

Discussion: ThinkProgress, RedState, thenewcivilrightsmovement.com and Breitbart

Rebecca Shabad / NBC News:
Senate narrowly advances Kavanaugh nomination to final vote

Discussion: Reuters, IJR, New York Times and LifeNews.com

Adam Shaw / Fox News:
Senate votes to advance Kavanaugh nomination, setting up final vote for Saturday

Discussion: Townhall, RedState, New York Times, Fox News Insider, IJR, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, NPR, Conservative News Today and Washington Free Beacon

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, Slate, The American Conservative, Hot Air and Rewire.News

Anna Staver / Denver Post:
Colorado's Cory Gardner reviews FBI report on Kavanaugh after listening to sexual assault survivors

Discussion: Political Wire

New York Times:
How Brett Kavanaugh Failed

Discussion: Hartford Courant, Salt Lake Tribune, Daily Kos, Cronkite News, Breitbart, The Resurgent, Washington Post, Splinter and The Week

Adele Scalia / The Federalist: I'm An Immigrant, Minority Woman Going Republican Over Democrats' Treatment Of Kavanaugh

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

Discussion: Instapundit and National Review

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: Politico, Splinter and Political Wire

Bloomberg:

Bloomberg Terminal Demo Request — The headlines alone are dizzying. Since the New York Times reported allegations of serial predation by movie mogul Harvey Weinstein a year ago, at least 425 prominent people across industries have been publicly accused of sexual misconduct …

Discussion: Washington Post, Slate, New Republic, New York Times, IndieWire and The Daily Beast

Lisa Ryan / The Cut: Our Year of Reckoning: An Exhaustive Timeline

Roxane Gay / New York Times: I Thought Men Might Do Better Than This

Don Palmerine / Washington Post:

I watched a rape. For five decades, I did nothing. — Many men have stories to tell and confessions to make. This is mine. — Don Palmerine is a former reporter and columnist living in Pittsburgh. — I was both an observer and a participant in a teenage rape.

Amy Walter / The Cook Political Report:

The War That Never Ends — The vote on Brett Kavanaugh is likely to be taken this weekend. But, the impact of the battle over his confirmation is likely to have short and long-term consequences. — As for the short term, the consensus seems to be building among both Democratic …

Associated Press:

Interpol president reported missing during trip to China — PARIS (AP) — The president of Interpol, a former senior Chinese security official, has been reported missing after he traveled to his native country at the end of September, a French judicial official said Friday.

Discussion: Reuters and The Week

Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:

Here's how much Americans trust 38 major news organizations (hint: not all that much!) — About 13 percent of Americans don't trust any news outlet at all. (They went 2-to-1 for Trump in 2016.) — Surveys about “media trust” suffer from a definitional problem.

Christopher R. Browning / The New York Review of Books:

The Suffocation of Democracy — As a historian specializing in the Holocaust, Nazi Germany, and Europe in the era of the world wars, I have been repeatedly asked about the degree to which the current situation in the United States resembles the interwar period and the rise of fascism in Europe.

Discussion: Vox, Shakesville, thenewcivilrightsmovement.com, Raw Story and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Julia Davis / The Daily Beast:

The Kremlin's For Kavanaugh: Russian State Media Back Trump's Supreme Court Nominee — Putin's media minions are echoing Trump to defend his Supreme Court nominee from the evils of #MeToo. Or maybe he's echoing them. Some minds think alike. — The Kremlin's support of Donald Trump's objectives …

Discussion: One America News Network and Raw Story

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

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 …

Discussion: National Journal and Capitol Fax.com

Hot Air:

No, The Alleged Attack On Ford Didn't Happen At The July 1, 1982 Party, Says ... Ford Team Member — Glad they waited until the eve of the cloture vote to make this clear, after a week of theorizing by chumps like me and days spent by the FBI interviewing people named on Kavanaugh's calendar on that date.

Najja Parker / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

'Robert, you're going to kill me': R. Kelly's ex-wife details years of alleged abuse — R. Kelly's ex-wife is speaking out about the abuse she said she endured during her 13-year marriage to the R&B star. — During an interview on “The View”, she recounted several incidents of alleged domestic abuse …

Tampa Bay Times:

Times recommends: Andrew Gillum for governor — Just one of every four Florida voters cast ballots in the primary elections for governor. The other 10 million voters sat it out or were shut out because they are not Republicans or Democrats. As a result, there is no centrist on the November ballot …